Of Quidditch & A Multitude of Marriages
by Jynxisruler13
Summary: The war is finally over. Hermione creates a new family and things are going great. That is until the Ministry get's involved and screws everything up. They seem to think everyone needs to be bonded in holy matrimony. Plus Mrs. Weasley is being really mean. Marriage Law fic. Ron, Ginny, and Molly Bashing.
1. Prologue

I raced through the halls of Hogwarts intent on arriving at the dungeons to get the necessary potions and bezoars for Professor Snape, who lay petrified by my own wand on the floor of the boathouse. I knew I was panicking; Ron had told me to just leave the miserable git there and let him die. The professor actually looked shocked at the conversation he was hearing (weather it was because of Ron's harsh words or my willingness and want to save his life I haven't the slightest).

Finally, I arrived at my destination and started sifting through all the useless things like failed potions from students and other ingredients that couldn't save anyone at the moment. After what felt like forever, but was only moments, I had everything I needed, plus extra for anyone I might meet afterwards or on the way there.

I began my race back to Snape, trying not to look down and see all the bodies I knew where there, but on the way I heard an anguished cry and voices that sounded familiar and went towards it instead. Rationalizing that the _petrificus totalus_ I cast on Snape would keep him alive until I got back and removed it, where as this person might not have that long.

Turning the corner I was met with a sight I never wanted to see; Fred's unconscious body being held by his twin George, Percy standing to the side trying to help with what little healing knowledge he had, Charlie and Bill fighting off any death eaters while constantly glancing at their broken younger brothers. I hurried over to them shooting a stunner at Rockwell who had been getting closer to getting through Bills' shield. Moving past the eldest of the Weasley brothers and pushing Percy aside, I crouched down and made George look at me.

"George can I please take a look at Fred and try to save him?" I asked, at his nod I checked for a pulse, there was one but it was weak, and from the looks of things Fred had lost a lot of blood. "Okay George, Fred is alive I need to go now, I was trying to save someone else so I'm giving you this..." I pulled out blood replenisher and dittany from my pocket and tried to get him to take it but he was just staring into Fred's face. _I don't have time for this!_ I thought in exasperation, so I reached up and slapped George across the face; this seemed to get his attention along with Percy, Bill, and Charlie's.

The death eaters finally immobilized they all looked at me and I smiled sheepishly and said: "George I don't have time for your shit right now" they all looked so surprised that I swore but I knew what I said next would shock them more... "I'm on my way to save Snape from Nagini's bite so I have to leave. Heal all the major bleeders with this, then give him this, and take him to the Great hall to be healed. Understand?" I had finally gotten him to take the dittany and blood replenisher. He nodded slowly and turned his attention back to his twin.

I stood and got ready to run again. The other three brothers looked at each other and as if by silent agreement Percy ran off to fight other death eaters, while Bill went to help George and look out for the enemy, and Charlie turned to me.

"So where's professor snake food?" He asked, I turned and began to run back the way I came, with him following whilst stunning, hexing, and jinxing along the way to help where he could.

We made it to the boathouse, I was immediately by Snape's side and shoving bezoars and every anti-venom potion I had down his throat before removing the spell to see if it worked. Charlie had stood by the door to make sure nobody followed us. All of a sudden there was a loud voice that seemed to hiss filling all of our ears. It told all the death eaters to retreat and Voldemort was giving us time to collect our dead, and then telling Harry to go sacrifice himself in the forbidden forest. I hardly paid any mind as I continued with my work on Snape's body.

It seemed not all the death eaters wanted to go to the forest though as two of them ended up at the boathouse and were instantly on Charlie. I went to take my wand out but it wasn't there, I panicked, but Snape had already lifted his wand and stunned one as Charlie did the other.

"Foolish know-it-all." Snape rasped out. I glared at him until he got the point and downed the potion I was holding to his lips. I continued to feed Snape potions with the help of Charlie, after he tied the two dark followers up. Time seemed to stand still as I tried to make sure he didn't die. All of a sudden we heard the shouting of "Harry Potter is dead!" from Voldemort. Already knowing the plan I relayed it to the two dumbstruck looking men and continued my work like my best friend wasn't just announced dead.

There were more explosions and what I guessed was fighting so Charlie went to stand guard again while I finished my work. When I was done Snape looked normal if a little paler than normal if that was possible, but was still extremely weak. There was cheering and I knew Voldemort was dead as Snape screamed out and his dark mark faded to grey. He was still weak, I had to get him out of here, but I also needed to see who had died and if Fred was okay. I went with doing the former and telling Charlie to do the latter then come to me and explain everything. I also gave him orders to tell everyone I was okay. Charlie turned to go after nodding then stopped and asked where I was going. That was a tough one...

"Grimmauld place." I told I'm firmly. "Tell Sirius and Remus but no one else I don't want anybody trying to kill him after all that hard work." Charlie nodded but scratched his head and asked:

"What about Sirius he will try to kill him then you for taking him into his home?" Snape pulled out three letters and handed them to me then pointed to Charlie with a weak hand.

"Dumbledore wrote them before his staged murder, the murder he forced me to commit with an unbreakable vow, explain later, give one to aurors, one to the Order, Sirius in this case, and one to the interim Minister. It explains my part as a spy for the light." He rasped out in a voice that sounded as if he swallowed rocks.

"I knew it! I knew you weren't a real death eater, not anymore at least!" I yelled then blushed looking down. Charlie was snickering and Snape was smirking and looked amused when I looked up. I glared and shoved the letters in Charlie's hand; grabbed Snape's and disappeared to Grimmauld.

The weeks that followed saw Sirius, Remus, Charlie, Snape, the twins, and I staying at Grimmauld. Harry was staying with Ginny and Ron at the Weasley's; I was of course invited to stay as well but honestly I was avoiding them. None knew what happened at Malfoy manor and I planned to keep it that way. At least here I could put up silencing charms and not be questioned.

Each day for the ensuing weeks following Voldemort's fall Sirius and Remus went to Hogwarts to meet with Harry and help repair the castle. George and I would go to rebuild the shop while Snape and Fred, who had to take things easy for a while, worked on product replenishing. Soon would be the grand reopening, we were all excited; well except Snape but he had seen the empty store across the street and was thinking of buying it so he could be happy soon as well. We may have been a strange sight but we worked, despite Ron's rude comments about Snape every time we saw each other.

As odd as it was all seven of us had formed a close bond and Snape was even invited to stay and live there. He had acted like it would be the worst thing ever, but conceded that he had no other options. Here we were all a close knit family that actively avoided questioning one another as we all knew the others had bad memories they didn't want to share from the war, and that's why we lived here and not the burrow. Though we still had to live with the Sunday dinners for all Weasleys, honorary Weasley's, and spouses. We all hated it, and it usually ended up with six drunken men and me who they refused to give alcohol to as I was 'too young'.

They had all become abnormally overprotective of me. It was odd; the twins always made sure I was comfortable and offered to help with _anything_. Sirius made sure I would want for nothing as he had bought me a whole new wardrobe after hearing most of mine was destroyed or torn. Remus and Snape never let me leave the house unless someone was with me. They were all like my older brothers and were already closer to me in three weeks than Harry and Ron had been in seven years. It was probably because they didn't judge and Sirius had grown up during the war. When I told them they were all like overprotective older brothers one night at diner all had stopped eating put there forks down and said in perfect unison

"Not overprotective, just making sure of your happiness." That, somehow, became the new house motto.

The old Hermione would've probably felt suffocated and angry that they saw her as useless and unable to protect herself. The new Hermione however; the one who had always looked after everyone before herself and sacrificed so much for this war, she loved their suffocating ways... most of the time.


	2. The Weasley Dinner From Hades

Hermione woke with a start on a day 4 months after the Final Battle, as it was called, and 3 months since her and all of her male roommates moved in together officially. She had just woken up from a nightmare of Bellatrix standing over her own limp body as she yelled _crucio_ after _crucio_. She often wondered whether the actual torture was worse than the aftermath of it. Sighing, she stood and stretched out her abused muscles then dressed for the day.

Hogwarts had finally finished being rebuilt three days ago, just in time for the new school year to start in a month; after they found teachers of course. That however wasn't the end of it. Sirius had decided to take up a job in the magical law enforcement department, which was now headed by Tonks, as a consultant. Remus and Charlie had been asked to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures respectively for the new school year. Fred and George would be re-opening the shop in two weeks. Even Severus had found a job; he was opening up and apothecary across from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and would be opening on the same day as the twins.

Hermione had no job prospects and plenty of offers, all of which were based on who she was known as and not on her skill; she, morally, couldn't accept any of them. Effectively she was stuck, so she settled for helping all her boys with their work and making sure none of them died from starvation.

Making her way to the kitchen and going over what she was going to do today she stopped suddenly when she realized just what today was. August 20th, more commonly known as Sunday; the day where they went to the Weasley's for dinner.

 _Oh shit!_ She thought as she entered the kitchen and started breakfast. Hermione always made breakfast, lunch, and dinner while the boys cleaned up afterwards. Despite them all being talented in many fields cooking was not one... for any of them. Not that she minded, she mused, she loved cooking and baking, it relaxed her after her stressful nights.

After fixing each of them a plate and setting their usual morning orders on the table (Chocolate chip pancakes and tea for Remus, dry toast and black coffee for Severus, Strawberry and Banana waffles with orange juice and coffee for the twins, English breakfast and black coffee for Charlie, banana pancakes with chocolate milk and tea for Sirius, and toast and a very large cup of coffee for her.) she went to wake them all up, but not before looking at the spread and shaking her head slightly. _I live with 5 children, and a big grump_ she thought and giggled, knowing she wouldn't have it any other way.

As usual she met Severus on the stairs in his normal all black attire, while he lost the frock coat in our company he still was quite recluse, and kept his usual grumpy morning attitude.

"Morning Sev." She said just to annoy him. He grunted in reply and went into the kitchen leaving a laughing Hermione to go wake the others while he had his breakfast and read _the Daily Prophet_. Deciding to have a little fun this morning she sent a patronus alert message to Remus and Sirius' rooms that played a boat horn until deactivated by the sender, and sent two buckets of ice cold water to the Twins room to pour down on her command, just like the patronus, finally for Charlie she sent a bucket of syrup to fall on him. After running into the kitchen, causing Severus to look up at her curiously, she flicked her wand. Right on cue shouts could be heard along with two boat horns and then a lot of pounding footsteps on stairs with yelled threats to accompany them. Quickly finding her seat Severus looked at her before directing his attention to the door waiting for a show.

"What did you do to them?" he asked. She looked at him with a look that said 'who me?' to which he snorted.

The door burst open to reveal two soaking and shivering twins, a syrup covered Charlie and two ex-marauders covering their ears to the boat horns assault. All were looking right at Hermione with looks of annoyance. She smiled innocently and flicked her wand three times; the first ending the boat horns, the second cleaning Charlie, and the last drying and warming the twins.

"Breakfast." She smirked. Severus was looking at her and the other 5 hoping for a show, but they were used to her morning assaults by now and just sat to eat while he looked sad.

"Today's Sunday." Severus stated.

"Way to help bring up the spirits this morning Sev, maybe next you can kill a puppy." Sirius pointed out.

"Could it be you?" Remus asked teasing him.

"Maybe not a puppy... how 'bout a kitten?" he said staring at Hermione. Who just rolled her eyes and stole the paper from Severus.

"Hey that is mine, get your own."

"This is your punishment. They hadn't noticed it was Sunday yet and I wanted the peace to last until Lunch before we left." She stated back then focusing on her reading and toning out all 6 of their complaining about not wanting to go.

After breakfast they all separated to do what they thought they could finish before they had to leave. Hermione went to the Library knowing nothing would need her assistance. She was soon joined by Severus, Remus, and Charlie who were working on planning for the upcoming year; Severus for his shop and the other two lesson plans. At quarter to 1 she left and made some light sandwiches knowing there would be a feast later in the evening. She delivered all their lunches and went to shower and change for the Burrow as they would be leaving in two hours.

Time seemed to pass far too quickly for all of them as it was now time to go to The Burrow. They lined up at the floo and took turns going through starting with the redheads of the house, then the head of house, then the werewolf, then the female, and finally the grouch.

Upon arrival all the 'kids' and Remus were hugged while Molly simply sneered at Severus and ignored Sirius as per usual.

"Well don't just stand there, everyone is out in the garden, we are eating out there today because Bill, Fleur, and Percy are here. Now scoot, oh and by the way we will all be having an important talk at dinner" she said looking directly at Hermione. The odd group went to the garden where Charlie and the twins were immediately pulled into conversation by Bill, Sirius was taken by Harry, Remus by Arthur, and Ron was on his way over to Hermione. She glanced at Severus, then at Ron, and back.

"Sev... please don't let Ron get me alone I think he's going to do something stupid like ask me out or something." She whispered he nodded slightly as Ron reached them.

"Hey Hermes why don't we go on a walk, alone, without _him_." It wasn't a question but a demand, Hermione hated demands.

"No thanks Ronald I think it would be rude to leave Sev all alone, don't you? Besides dinner will be soon." She responded in a warning tone, he obviously missed it.

"Oh come on Hermes the Greasy Git _likes_ to be alone, right?" he answered while looking smug thinking he had her beat. He was wrong.

"DINNER!" lucky for him dinner was called and everyone went to the table, Hermione dragging Severus who seemed reluctant and took Remus, who had Sirius, who had Charlie, who had George, who had Fred, who was digging his heels in. Everyone else at the table watched in bemusement at the scene as Hermione took charge. She shoved Severus in a seat far away from Ron with an empty one next to it and ordered him to stay he looked at her, gulped, and nodded. The bemusement turned to shock at that, after all nothing scared Severus Snape, infamous dungeon bat and greasy git! Next was Remus who was placed next to Arthur and away from Bill. Then Sirius who was seated by Harry, then Charlie beside Bill, then George beside Ginny who sat beside Harry, then Fred beside his mother and away from is twin, and finally she took the free seat between Molly and Severus and away from Ron.

She turned to the rest of the table as they stared at her in shock at making six grown men do as she said and actually cower in fear if they protested. She raised an eyebrow and asked:

"What, certain people at this table don't get along with others. I thought I would save us the drama." That seemed to snap everyone out of it and the feast began. Everyone was laughing and talking excitedly and the seven were actually enjoying themselves for once. However all good things must come to an end, unfortunately that end was here.

Ron stood from his seat and marched over to where Hermione was sitting and tapped her on the shoulder, she turned and was surprised to find Ron keeling before her. For a split second she was puzzled, then it dawned on her, he didn't want to ask her on a date he wanted marriage. She groaned and looked to her family for help they just looked amused knowing she would never say yes.

"Hermes, we've been friends for almost 8 years and I know you love me just as I love you. So would you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?" He finished. Hermione must've looked unsure because Molly suddenly decided it was her turn to add her two cents in.

"You know we've always seen you as our daughter dear and now you will be one to us. Don't worry I will teach you all the tricks to being a stay at home mother, plus now you can move in here so you don't have to live with the likes of them anymore." She commented pointing to Sirius and Severus.

"Thank you Molly, for your concern." She bit out before turning to Ron. "Do you want me to be a stay at home mother?" he nodded and looked at her like she was stupid. "I'm sorry I don't think I could ever enter such a union, thank you for your consideration. Maybe next time you might want to run your proposal by the girl's family to see if they approve, and to see if she wants to marry anyone; or you in particular." She answered. He looked dumbstruck, then sad, finally though he looked confused and slightly angry.

"How would I ask your family for permission you permanently erased all of their memories of yourself and sent them out of country!?"

"Well there is always Sev, Sirius, Remus, Charlie, Fred or George. They are my family and my best friends." Ron was plain furious now, his face was so red it was beginning to resemble his hair.

"Well then, which of them are you fucking? I mean if you won't marry me that means you're fucking one or two of them!" she now had tears in her eyes and was about to retort when Molly spoke up again.

"Well then Hermione answer Ronnikins question." She too sounded angry. Hermione had tears streaming down her face now. Everyone else was silent as they watched but 6 of them were furious. Severus was closer though so he just punched Ron in the face as Sirius and Remus stood and rushed to her defense saying none of them were sleeping together. Charlie was yelling at Ron who lay on the ground bleeding and Molly was yelling at Severus about hurting her Ronnikins, not paying any mind to the two ex-marauders. The twins were by her side in an instant and leading her back to the house to floo home.

They got home and she broke down. The twins each had an arm around her and lead her to the couch. Severus came through next and was by her side as Fred moved to the ground to give him a spot on the couch and he took hold of her leg. George moved too when the floo roared to life and out stepped Remus who took Georges vacated spot. Sirius came next and moved Hermione to sitting on Severus lap and he took the side Severus had occupied. Finally Charlie came through looking terrible and immediately took a seat by his brothers and held her feet.

They all fell asleep like that wondering how life could get worse. It was their mistake to think it couldn't, because things always had to get a lot worse before they got better.


	3. The Nightmare and The House Meeting

_**AN: I forgot to mention that I own only what you don't recognize and I'm not making any money off this**_

Because Hermione was so worn out after the burrow and because she had fallen asleep crying on Sirius and Remus, plus the fact that they were all piled together Hermione never put up any silencing charms that night. That meant that when her nightly reminders of Bellatrix started she had no way to hide them.

It was about 1am when they started. Bellatrix was standing over Hermione's body and she was carving into her arm yelling about where they got the sword. Hermione was trying to stay silent, but it hurt and she would whimper every once in a while. Ron was sitting on the side lines laughing at her pain. After Bella had carved MUDBLOOD in Hermione's arm she changed tactics and called Greyback over. He and a few others stared pawing all over her but that's when Lucius showed up and told them they were needed elsewhere. Bella started again with the cursed blade, she started asking again, and then used the blade and _crucio_ at the same time. That's when she broke.

Outside of her dream world she stopped whimpering and started screaming. "It's a fake! We didn't steal it! I don't know where we got it! NO! Stop! Please stop! AHHHHH!" she was shrieking loud enough to wake all the boys. They all looked at each other wide eyed then back to Hermione who was whimpering and still screaming. Each started to shake her awake.

After ten minutes of shaking her she finally awoke and turned to hug the closest thing while crying, this happened to be Severus. She finally calmed down enough to understand the position she was in, she went stiff counting how many hands were on her, smelling the mixture of scents from the 6 boys, and listening to all their soothing voices trying to calm her.

"I'm sorry I woke you up, just go back to sleep I'll be in my room; breakfast at 9." She mumbled trying to get up. However, they all got up and pushed her into the couch while they stood over her.

"What was that?" Remus asked in his calm soothing voice.

"Don't try to lie, I will know." Severus added. Hermione's mouth remained closed.

"Was it a nightmare?" Sirius asked seeing she wasn't talking. She just nodded slowly resigning herself to the fact that she was going to have to explain.

"Was it a memory?" Charlie asked softly. Tears were streaming down her face again but she nodded. They all seemed stunned and upset they hadn't seen it sooner.

"Explain." The twins finally spoke.

"Okay, but you will want to sit for this." She'd finally found her voice. They all sat except Remus who went to make coffee and hot chocolate. Severus sat beside her sensing this would be hard on her while all the others sat in the couch facing them. Remus returned and passed out the mugs then sat and looked expectantly at her.

"I guess it really is just a recurring nightmare. Three, four times a week I relive something- not so pleasant. I guess the question is do you want the whole story or just the nightmare part?"

"The whole story." Sirius said firmly.

"Are you sure? It makes some look a little... less highly regarded." They nodded so she continued. "As you know after Bill and Fleur's wedding Harry, Ron and I went on the run. What you don't know is what we were doing. We were finding and destroying horcruxes, Voldemort's seven anyway." She stopped and looked to see if they knew what those were. By the looks on their faces she guessed they did.

"Dumbledore set it up; or rather told Harry and we dove in head first no plan. On our quest we had to break into the ministry and steal Slytherin's locket off of Umbitch. We almost got caught and Ron got Splinched when I apparated them. He was so angry with me for 'marring his perfect skin'.

"We took turns wearing the locket and it would whisper things, horrible things to you. Ron got upset when Harry and I were talking one night and he was wearing the locket. They had a huge row and Ron tossed the locket and left us in the forest of dean..." she trailed off when she saw the disbelieving and furious looks on everyone's face.

"He left?" Fred asked in a deadly calm voice.

"We're gonna kill him!" Charlie yelled.

"Yes he left and no you aren't going to kill him. Now let me continue; all of us need to be up early to open the shops." When they didn't look like they were going to floo over and kill their brother she continued. "Anyways Harry and I kept moving, we went to see Lily and James' grave, almost got killed by that blasted snake, then a couple days later Ron came back. I was in the tent at the time but I guess he saved harry from drowning after following Sev's patronus and then they destroyed the locket." She started shaking; all the boys knew they were at the point in the story that scared her.

"It's ok your safe now, go ahead, continue." Severus told her softly.

"Shortly after he returned, and I slapped him in the face for leaving, I was still ignoring him and in turn Harry. As you know Ron is almost always the one to get Harry fired up and that's what happened. Harry said _his_ name and the snatchers were on us. I managed to shoot a spell at Harry so he didn't look like himself. They brought us to Malfoy Manor, and into the drawing room. Bellatrix, Greyback, Draco, Narcissa, and a few other men were there.

"They were sending us to the dungeon after Draco didn't identify Harry, but Bellatrix saw the sword of Gryffindor in my bag and she kept me upstairs. She wanted to know how we broke into her vault at Gringotts..."

"You broke into Gringotts!" Sirius yelled.

"Not at that point no, it wasn't until after we escaped that we did." They all looked at her wide eyed. "I'll explain another time okay? So of course I told her we didn't, she called me a liar, and she doesn't like liars. Bellatrix tortured me. She used _Crucio_ and she used a cursed blade to carve into my arm. When none of that worked she set Greyback and the other men on me. Lucius stopped them before they could do anything then Bellatrix was back on me.

"We were there for two hours and I was tortured for half of that. Dobby eventually broke us all out and then we went to shell cottage, we had to modify their memories to keep them safe though, plus Dobby died in apparition by Bellatrix's knife. The day we left we broke into Gringott's with me polyjuiced as Bellatrix. We broke out on a dragon, then the next day we went to Hogwarts, and you know the rest." She finished with tears streaming down her face. "In my nightmares Ron's watching the torture and laughing that's why I refuse to be alone with him."

"Show us your arm Hermione." Sirius told her. She lifted her sleeve and removed her glamour and heard all of them gasp. She was full on sobbing now and it was the only sound in the room.

"That's not true." Remus who had remained quiet up until this point told her. Hermione looked at him, as did everyone else, but he wasn't looking at her arm but at her face. "That's not who you are, or at least all you are. I do believe it was you who once told me that scars aren't all you are just a way to show who you've been. Very profound for a 14 year old school girl, but it stuck I guess. You're blood is the same as everyone's in this room except for Snapes and mine."

"Okay I get yours but why Snapes?" she garbled out through panted breath.

"Well Snape and you can't be classed in the same category because his grouchiness might rub off no you but I'm fine because I'm a very grouchy misbehaved rabbit once a month." He deadpanned. It seemed to have the effect he wanted as she burst out laughing and forgot all about the story she just told. It was a good thing they all hated pity because if they didn't she would be royally pissed off.

The next morning everyone was up early and already in the kitchen when Hermione got there. She was startled, but even more so at the fact they had made breakfast, and it seemed edible! Severus handed her the Prophet as she sat and she eyed them strangely.

"Why?" she asked

"You work too hard. Plus we are going to discuss who's working with whom today and we didn't want to wake you when you don't get much sleep in the first place. Did you know Severus could cook?!" George rambled.

"Okay then so who is going with whom for work today?" she was met with silence and eyes on her. "Fine Fred, George and Sev you all need to be in your own shops so that leaves Sirius, Remus, Charlie and I. Personally I think WWW will be more busy today because it was a pre-established business plus the fact that it's a bigger floor I say majority to them and rest with Sev. Now Sev seems in a good mood today because he's only glaring at me for his nickname and not refusing it so let's go with Remus helping Sev and Sirius, Charlie, and I with the Twins. We will meet for lunch at WWW and if we need to change the arrangement we will." She looked pleased and the rest of them looked satisfied so with that they all flooed out.


	4. Letters from Hades and the Burrow

**AN: If you recognize it it's not mine.**

The week that followed was hectic to say the least. The only other Weasley's who would talk to them were Bill, Fleur, and Percy. Harry wasn't even talking to them. Sad as it was, Hermione still thought this week was going great, but again all good things end, or in this case get hit by the Hogwarts express then eaten slowly by merpeople.

The day had started out normal enough for a Saturday; Hermione had made breakfast met Severus on the stairs, woke everyone else in an evil way, and sat in the kitchen talking and laughing with her family before work. Then the mail came. Usually none of them got mail anymore as the house was untraceable and only those invited can see it or find it. However, there, sitting on the window sill were 7 ministry owls each with a letter for the occupants of 12 Grimmauld Place.

Hermione let the owls in and they each took the letter with their name on it. None of the boys seemed to keen to open theirs and, ever the one to take initiative, Hermione opened hers and just about fainted at the contents. She let out a little whimper so all the boys opened theirs and read them as Hermione read hers again.

 _Dear Miss Hermione Granger,_

 _It is hereby declared by the Ministry of magic that a new law is to come into play. Due to the declining birth rates since the Final Battle we have enacted a marriage law. Every witch and wizard between the ages of 17 and 50 shall be matched by the ministry unless already married or widowed. Matches will not be pureblood to pureblood or muggle-born to muggle-born._

 _Matches must be living with one another by no longer than three months after receiving your spouse's name. You must be married by 6 months after receiving your match and with child by two years into your marriage, unless proven infertile or having a complication leading to needing an extension._

 _Failure to comply with this law will result in your wand being snapped and a 20 year sentence in Azkaban followed by banishment from the wizarding community._

 _Your match will arrive in one week's time, have a good day._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Arthur Weasley_

 _Minister of Magic_

Hermione got an idea all of a sudden that set her blood on fire.

"THAT FUCKING GIT!" she shrieked.

"What? Oh, and ow my ears." Severus asked

"Ron! He knew of the law, he had to, and he was just trying to use me as a way out!" then something else occurred to her. "Oh no... What if I get paired with an ex-death eater, no offence Sev, or a death eater wannabe?!" by the way all of their faces paled she assumed they hadn't thought of that either.

"Shit." They all said at once.

The next day they all went to the Burrow no matter if they were wanted or if they wanted; it was tradition. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife and every once in a while someone would glare at Hermione.

"Well Hermes looks like we'll be getting married after all." Ron said out of the blue and he looked smug.

"Why do you say that young Mr. Weasley?" Severus asked for Hermione who seemed to just realize that was an option and thought it was worse than being matched with Tom Riddle.

"Easy they are matching soul mates. Me and Hermes are meant to be together just ask anybody. I mean they wouldn't split us up just like they won't split Harry and Ginny apart." He replied slowly like talking to a toddler. Seeing the outburst about to happen from every one of the boys, including himself, Fred stepped up to the plate.

"Hey guys maybe we should get going; I mean Charlie and Remus you start at Hogwarts tomorrow, Severus you are going to have a lot of last minute shoppers that forgot something, and the shop will no doubt be busy as well, plus Hermione and Sirius you guys are helping us tomorrow right?" he cut in. It seemed to work as they all saw it for what it was: a way out.

"Yup busy day tomorrow, bye!"

"See ya!"

"We'll all be here Sunday as Charlie and I won't be living at Hogwarts full time only during the week."

"Yeah if we lived there the whole time, who would stop those fours prank war and Sev's attitude problems towards said prank war?"

"Prank war? Hermione doesn't pull pranks." Molly scoffed.

"Oh? And just who do you think came up with and developed their latest line Boat Horn Bottles? How else should I wake those 5 up and make him be in a good mood through their torment?" Hermione asked then turned and left. They got back to the house, went to the library for firewhisky. or in Hermione's case hot cocoa, and chatted for an hour.

"Hey guys, did any of you notice that nobody mentioned the marriage law until Ron brought it up?" Remus asked.

"Oh, I have a theory about that actually." Fred told them and they waited for them to continue when he didn't Sirius spoke up.

"Care to share, thing one?"

"Nice muggle reference Siri." Hermione impute, she had been teaching them on muggles for a while now and they were just getting a hang of it.

"Sure we'll share! It's simple they talked about it before the letters came and before the law was officially announced. Dad told them all about it and Ron is the only one to propose because they weren't positive that you'd be matched whereas they're sure about Harry and Gin." George answered for his twin who was pouring another drink.

"You guessed all that?" Severus asked disbelievingly.

"No he didn't; he asked Percy before we left and he told him." Charlie put in. Hermione burst out laughing at the put out face the twins put on. Then stood and told them she was going to bed.

"Don't you dare put up any silencing charms! I will be checking on my way to bed, we all will be so don't try to be smart." She frowned but nodded. After they had found out about the charms they insisted she stop using them and would now make sure they weren't there, if she tried they all slept in there with her.

She went to bed that night thinking of the fact that in 6 days, at this time, she would be engaged. So would all her housemates. They didn't even know who was moving out or if all of them were. They would have to discuss this when they got their matches, if they felt unsafe stay here if not move in with them or get their own place.


	5. Matching the Heroes

**AN: Recognize it it's not mine**

It was Saturday. None of them had slept last night as Hermione had another nightmare and refused to sleep again, so none of them slept again. They were all sitting with their heads on the table and black coffee in front of them when the floo rang alerting them that somebody wanted in.

Charlie was closest so Remus pushed him out of the chair and told him to answer it. He glared but compiled and came back moments later with Neville.

"Hey guys, Hermione. Sorry to just show up unannounced but I don't want to open my ministry letter alone when it comes and I have nobody around to open it with, mind if I join you for the morning?" everyone agreed but Severus grumbled first acting like the feared potions professor in all his morning person glory.

Neville took a seat and got some coffee; he had been over many times and knew of Hermione's nightmares but kept it to himself.

Tap, tap, tap.

They all looked out the window to see two owls, one with one letter and one with seven. Hermione, ever the animal lover, jumped up to let the poor owls in. They dropped the letters on the table and flew back out not stopping for anything. She picked them all up and sat back down.

"Before I give these out we need to discuss living arrangements. I say if you feel safe with your match and you have the funds you can move out if not they move in. There is plenty of room here right Siri?"

"Yeah, but that goes for you too kitten." She nodded and passed out the letters. They all seemed reluctant to open them so she spoke again.

"How about we go oldest to youngest?"

"What? But I'm the oldest and you're the youngest you just don't want to open yours until you see who we have!"

"Yes that's true Sev. Though if you all love me you will do it." Hermione put on her best puppy dog face and aimed it at Severus knowing he fell for it every time. "Don't you want to know who you're marrying and what they do for a living? It tells you, you know?" He rolled his eyes, sighed, and turned his letter in his hands before opening it.

"I'm 45 years old you'd think they would understand I don't want to get married and have a little dunderhead of my own." He mumbled as he tore it open, read it, and then groaned.

"What? Who'd you get?" Sirius said knowing he was next and Severus' reaction didn't bode well for him.

"I don't even know who she is, but I have heard of her. It's Annabella Franks a journalist for the Prophet in the gossip column." He told them in disgust.

"Sorry Sev." Hermione told him sadly then turned to Sirius. "Go ahead Siri."

"Okay then 44 not wanting marriage and marrying Mary Steeves a writer for Witch Weekly Magazine's gossip section... seriously are they just trying to expose all of our secrets!" he turned to Remus who was next. "Go for it wolf boy." Remus glared but opened his letter.

"I got Julia Marks a healer for St. Mungos. Okay then **Mutt** , maybe you're on to something." Remus actually looked scared and turned to Charlie. Okay dragon boy you're up!" Charlie groaned but complied.

"Can't say I've ever wanted to get married and at 35 not much I could really do about it if I did. The lucky lady for me is... Nymphadora Tonks. Hey Sirius we're gonna be related! Wow I used to have a crush on Tonks this could work out okay." A wave of relief went around the table that at least one of them got who they wanted. "Oh, by the way we are to go to the Burrow later to open our letters so act surprised later when Ron doesn't get you Kitten." Then he turned to the twins

"Well George I'm the older one by 2 minutes so I guess I go first?" Fred asked then opened his letter. "I got young missus Kathy Long a ministry official working in the magical sports division, sweet early quidditch scores!" George looked excited and tore open his letter.

"I got the illustrious Miss Sarafina Caterfield, a medi-witch for St. Mungos. Okay so we can blow up as much as we want Fred." They high fived and Hermione grew more anxious. Next was Neville then her and Neville was already opening his.

"Cool I got Hannah Abbot she runs the leaky cauldron. We're actually already dating. Hermione your turn." Hermione froze for a second but knew she was safe with all seven of her body guards plus Harry if he ever pulled his head out of his arse. She opened the letter slowly and let out a breath of a relief; it wasn't Ron or any death eater associate.

"I got... I got Oliver Wood. Captain of Puddlemere United and first string keeper. Well Fred looks like I get the stats first." She snorted at the look on everyone's face. After all it was Hermione 'afraid of heights' Granger, with Oliver 'quidditch obsession' Wood. Neville left soon after to see Hannah.

"Why don't we invite all of our spouses to dinner later this week and get to know them a little more? See who we can trust plus we won't have to meet them alone." Remus suggested before everyone left to dress for the Burrow.

"Sounds good me and Sev can cook." Hermione volunteered.

"Hey I never agreed to that!"

"Oh please Sev you would do anything I ask of you. That's why I get away with calling you Sev." She heard several snorts so she turned on them. "I wouldn't be laughing: Siri, Char, Freddie, Georgie, and Puppy." She threw over her shoulder as she left the room.

"She has us all wrapped around her little finger doesn't she?" Severus asked after she had left.

"Yup wonder if Ollie will stand a chance." Fred said then looked at George.

"Nah!" they said together before leaving.

"I really don't want to get married. Hermione's bad enough and she can't kick me out of my own bed for the night!" Sirius whined

"Well at least yours won't want to study you and your furry little problem." Remus grumbled.

"At least both of yours might like you, I'm pretty much screwed." Severus joined in.

"Amen." Charlie added "Tonks won't understand my passion for dragons."

They all were in the entrance room 20 minutes later with letters for each of their spouses inviting them to dinner Thursday night. All dreading the next two hours, and Thursday with passion. They sent out the letters with their owls that they each got on a trip to Diagon Ally just after the war and flooed to the Burrow.


	6. The Burrow and Ron's Temper

**AN: If you recognize it, it isn't mine. Also I've received two messages/reviews on Hermione and how I'm writing her. To that I would like to say if you don't like how I've written Hermione, don't read the story. It only gets 'worse' from here. I'm not saying Hermione did everything in the war, actually I'm only really saying she did the studying and the healing of two people, I'm saying she went through some shit, they all did. I'm not forcing you to read this, nobody is. You don't like my style of writing stop reading it.**

Upon arrival they were all ushered to the family room where everyone was waiting with their letters. When they entered it went silent and everyone stiffened.

"Okay no dilly dallying Snape you first, then oldest to youngest." Molly commanded, he scowled but responded.

"Annabella Franks, writer for the Prophet Gossip column."

"Mary Steeves, Witch Weekly gossip section writer." Sirius went

"Julia Marks, healer at St. Mungos." Remus went followed by Charlie as Bill was married to Fleur.

"Tonks, head of the Magical Law Enforcement Office" Molly smiled brightly at that as Percy opened his letter.

"Penelope Clearwater, Misuse of Magic Division at the ministry, she nice."

"Kathy Long, Magical Sports Division at the ministry." Fred went then George.

"Sarafina Caterfield, medi-witch at Mungos."

"Okay Ronnikins you're up." he looked smug as he opened his letter then he read it and looked outraged, the seven just smirked.

"I got Hermes." He said, the seven frowned and their eyes narrowed at him.

"Tell the truth because I didn't get you Ronald." Hermione said, he scowled at her and read his letter.

"Lavender Brown, seamstress at Madam Malkin's."

"Harry dear..." Molly now sounded worried. Harry opened his letter and read it, his mouth twitched a smile but only Hermione caught it.

"Luna Lovegood, editor for the Quibbler." He tried to sound dejected.

"What!" Ginny shrieked and tore open hers, no longer waiting for her turn. "Marcus Flint, beater for the Chudley Canons! How could they do this to me! He's so **ugly**!"

"Hermione who do you have?" Molly questioned sounding angry and curious.

"I am to marry Oliver Wood Captain and Keeper for Puddlemere United."

"What? Hell no, you are to marry me! I don't care what this damned law says we are getting married!" he walked over to her and grabbed her arm.

"Ronald let me go! I don't want to marry you and now I can't even if I did. I am going to marry Oliver, you are going to let me go, and-SLAP" Hermione got cut off when Ron's hand collided with her face. Severus had him held back in seconds while Harry had jumped up along with Percy, Bill, and Fleur. The other five from Grimmauld left with Hermione and looks that could kill to Ron. Harry, the remaining Weasley brothers, and Fleur following.

Percy took Harry with him to his flat knowing that he wouldn't be welcome at the Burrow for the night. Bill and Fleur went to Shell Cottage. The twins went to WWW for some bruise removal paste while Remus, Sirius, and Charlie took Hermione home, Severus following after he knew they were gone.

The twins arrived with the Bruise Removing paste to heal Hermione's cheek within moments of Severus.

"Why can't we get through one family dinner without having to leave early?" Hermione asked as Fred applied the paste and George let each of their owls in and handed out the responses from their spouses.

"Same method as this morning or all at once?" Sirius asked.

"All at once, it was a simple yes or no." Remus answered and tore his letter open. All the others following seconds later.

"Kathy's a yes"

"Sarafina's coming."

"Annabella's going to be here."

"Yup for Mary."

"Julia agreed."

"Tonks is excited to be coming."

"Oliver might be ten minutes late he has practice that day but he will be here."

"Guess we've got to make lots of food with three Weasley's and eleven others." Severus piped in. Hermione groaned.

"Sirius send out the addresses for all of them. I'll be in the library. Sev you coming?"

"Yeah, Remus?"

"No I've gotta plan for Monday with Charlie; we're combining lessons this week as he's teaching werewolves and I'm teaching defense against dragons." Severus nodded and followed Hermione. The twins went to the basement potions lab to try out some new products while Sirius set up the floo and sent the address to the guests.


	7. The New Family Dinner

**AN: If you recognize it, it is not mine**

Thursday came around far too soon for Hermione and the rest of the house's occupants. It was quarter to seven and the guests were set to arrive at seven. Hermione and Severus were in the kitchen cooking and laughing. While Severus focused on the meal Hermione made dessert; a tuxedo cake and chocolate chip cookies for Remus. The twins were running around begrudgingly cleaning the house of the pranks from the most recent prank war, while the others sat at the table laughing at Severus and Hermione's banter.

No one in the house noticed the time or the fact that the floo had recently admitted 7 new people. The new people entered the doorway following the sound of laughter not paying much mind to each other. The occupants of the house were all in the kitchen except Fred and George, so they watched in astonishment at the strange group all getting along and laughing.

Hermione finished her part of the meal and decided to play a quick prank on the twins. She flicked her wand and murmured a spell the twins suddenly appeared in the kitchen and immediately were drenched in ice cold water. They both let out high pitched screams that made all the men laugh even harder, including Severus.

Narrowing their eyes at Hermione they pounced and hugged her until she was soaked. Sirius, Charlie, and Remus were still laughing but Severus stopped knowing what was good for him. She glared hard at them and covered them all in syrup. Then turned to Severus.

"Sev, Fred and George got me all wet and they were being mean." She whined and put on puppy face. Severus smirked knowing what she was thinking and wordlessly conjured feathers to fall on the three at the table, and more ice water for the twins, plus a protective shield around the two of them.

Oliver who stood behind all six astonished girls cleared his throat. All heads in the kitchen snapped to him then the clock. Hermione and Severus righted everybody. Severus turned to the stove to finish dinner while Hermione blushed under the 7 incredulous stares. Five throats clearing brought her to her roommates whom she smiled innocently at. They didn't buy it for a second. They all advanced on her and Sirius lifted her into the air. She squealed.

"Put me down this instant!"

"What you gonna do if I don't Kitten?" Sirius asked.

"I won't cook for you anymore."

"Now we all know that's an empty threat." Everyone was seated now after being directed towards the correct seat by the place cards so they would know who's who and watching on amused, including Severus who had just placed all the food on the table.

"Fine I'll... I'll tell Harry all the dirty secrets you tell me when you're drunk!"

"Nope he's heard them all, remember I was a drunk after Azkaban and he lived here for a while?"

"Crap." She muttered then changed tactics. "Please Siri, I'll wake you up nicely instead of with a boat horn for a week and help with your next consultant job."

"Deal." He put her down, smiled at her, and greeted everybody. "Hello all, sorry for that little scene but our Hermione here needs to be taught a lesson on manners. By the way I'm Sirius Black owner of this shithole we call home."

"Sirius, does this mean I should be paying Hermione a percentage of what I give you for your consultant jobs? Oh by the way your next one is investigation in the forest of dean." Tonks slipped into the conversation.

"No, you don't, I buy her pretty much everything at the moment anyways, and Hermione you're not joining me on this mission you've been in that forest far too much for my liking already. Maybe the next research one, yeah?" He said as he sat between to his fiancé and an empty seat at the head of the table.

"Excuse me? You can't just not let me help because you think it might put me in danger! I'm always in danger!" Hermione reasoned while sitting next to Sirius and Oliver.

"She has a point." Fred said.

"The only way to keep her safe is to lock her in a tower, with a bunch of books, surrounded by bubble wrap." George supplied. Charlie and Remus nodded in agreement. Hermione was getting upset now as she started serving herself and helping the others at the table get started.

"Hermione, I know you won't like this, but I understand where Sirius is coming from. That forest has led to the worst moments of your life and the last time you were there you were surrounded by protection charms and in deserted sections. This time you wouldn't be; it won't be safe, the only reason Sirius will be safe is because of his animagus. He can blend, you can't." Severus placated her in a soft voice none of the guests knew he possessed. She sighed in defeat and nodded.

An awkward silence descended on the table as nobody knew what to say. Finally Mary, Sirius' fiancée, spoke the question all the guests were wondering.

"Hermione, are you sleeping with anybody at the table at the moment or have you ever?"

"No. I just saved Sev's and Fred's lives, Charlie saved mine, Sev saved Charlie's, George is grateful for Fred and Charlie being alive, and Sirius and Remus have always been like my uncles and are happy I'm alive." Remus sighed sadly and then smiled and asked something all of them needed to know.

"So why don't we each take turns going around the table and saying something that isn't common knowledge so we can get to know each other, our names, and ages?" he said looking at Hermione and indicating her arm, she sighed but nodded. Everyone else agreed and they made the writers at the table promise not to divulge any secrets. "Sirius start with you as you already said you name."

"Okay fine. Sirius Black, 44, and after being wrongfully imprisoned for 13 years without trial, the only thing I got was questions about how I escaped and a fine for being unregistered animagus, not even an apology."

"Mary Steeves, 40, and I don't actually read witch weekly I just write what they tell me to or get fired and lose everything." Mary was a tall woman, with brown pin straight hair, and kind green eyes.

"Nymphadora Tonks, 36, and I've never showed what I really look like since I was seven." Tonks was in her usual short, spiky, pink hair, small frame, and purple eyes.

"Charlie Weasley, 35, and I hate my family except the 5 oldest brothers."

"Severus Snape, 45, and I only joined the death eaters because I couldn't get a job anywhere."

"Annabella Franks, 38, and I hate Ronald Weasley. He keeps trying to cop a feel every time he sees me." Annabella was a short woman, with dirty blonde hair, and black eyes that matched her fiancés.

"Kathy Long, 24, and I only got my job in the Magical Sports division for the free quidditch seats." Kathy was tall, had black hair, and clear blue eyes.

"Fred Weasley, 19, and my favorite lesson and professor in school was potions and Severus Snape." This was met with laughter and astonished looks along with one questioning one from the man himself who couldn't understand.

"George Weasley, 19, and my favorite Bertie Bott's flavor is liver and tripe. Don't ask why it just is."

"Sarafina Caterfield, 20, and I once dated Marcus Flint for a week after he was brought into the hospital." Sarafina was a tall, willowy, and blond, with chocolate brown eyes.

"Hey he's marrying our little sister!" Charlie supplied.

"Julia marks, 36, and I actually study werewolves as a specialist at Mungos." Julia had the same sandy brown hair as Remus, she was short, shy, and had dark blue eyes.

"Remus Lupin, 44, and I am a werewolf, have been since I was 4, and was attacked by Greyback."

"Oliver Wood, 22, and I'm not actually quidditch obsessed I just seem that way due to years of conditioning." Oliver was very tall, at least 2 heads taller than Hermione, he had long, light brown hair, and caramel brown eyes. He had a kind smile and face. Now that she thought about it Hermione thought he was actually pretty cute.

"Hermione Granger, 17, and I have never dated or slept with Harry, Ron, Victor, or anyone at this table despite what the Prophet says." Sirius let out a little growl of frustration at her admission.

"Why on earth would I be your favorite professor I was a complete git back then?" Severus asked Fred

"Back then?" Oliver mumbled, Hermione snorted in a very un-lady-like way and attention turned to her.

"What, pray tell, Hermione is so funny?" Remus asked sounding stern like he did with his troublesome students. Hermione paled and glared and Oliver who was trying to hide his smile. Of course Remus had heard it, she knew but that didn't change anything.

"Oh nothing, hey did you hear that the Appleby Arrows are looking good this year I think I might root for them, what say you Sirius?" she asked innocently knowing any of them would help her out.

"Oh yeah they are way better than Puddlemere, I think that new chaser oh what's his name? Hermione what is the new guys name the one you, Fred, and George called sexy?" Fred, George, and Oliver choked.

"We did not call any bloke Sexy now-" Fred started

"Take that back!" George finished. They all laughed and the tension that was in the room slowly disappeared as they all got to know each other. They talked for hours, dessert had come and gone and they were now all in the entry room as it had the most seating space, with two couches one in front of the other but pulled close together, and four arm chairs in one corner around a small table.

The fiancés of Charlie, Sirius, Remus, and Severus were on one couch while they were on the other. The twins and there spouse's were in the arm chairs and Oliver and Hermione were sitting on the floor by the fire talking and getting to know one another.

The sound of the floo whooshing caught everyone's attention. Then in came Ron, Ginny, and Harry...


	8. Chaos Ensues

Then in came Ron, Ginny, and Harry. They looked around, Harry shrugged and smiled at everyone he knew. The other two however were not happy.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THIS! NO FIANCE OF MINE IS GOING TO BE SITTING WITH A MATCH THE MINISRY CHOSE!" Ron bellowed. Hermione put her head in her hands then stood to get rid of them.

"Ron, I have told you time and time again: I am not your fiancé nor will I ever be. Now let it go."

"You know Hermione, we really thought better of you. We were coming over to see you so we could pull some strings and get our matches swapped but here you are getting all cozy with yours."

"Getting all cozy? We are meeting the people we are marrying how is that cozy?! Maybe if you met your matches you would see that you're well paired for them like we all are with ours."

"I'm not marrying that slut!" Ron yelled "Fine if you won't come voluntarily we'll just have to take you with us. Petrificus To-"

"EXPELLIARMUS! STUPIFY!" Hermione shot out before he could petrify her.

"Confundo, expelliarmus, stupefy." Oliver rang out seconds after her. She turned to Ginny whose wand was in Oliver's hand; she hadn't even noticed Ginny had pulled her wand. "Sorry, just didn't know if you'd seen her."

"No I hadn't, thank you. Harry I think it's time to leave."

"I actually didn't know they were following me I just came over to speak to Snuffles about... something. They must've followed me, if I'm interrupting though I can leave."

"Of course you aren't pup. You never are, got that?" Harry nodded to Sirius' question. "Now you can stay but I have a three red head maximum in my house, so they are getting shipped out." He continued levitating the youngest Weasley's into the floo, then sending them off. "Okay now what are we talking about bud?" Harry indicated for him to follow and left the room for the library. Everyone went back to normal, until Sirius came back.

"Hermione, you're a girl; Harry needs a girl plus you're his friend. Go help him I'm useless to him right now." Hermione sighed and got up, but Oliver stopped her.

"Hey Hermione, I need to get going I have practice early tomorrow. How about we meet up and I will take you to dinner sometime this week so we can talk?"

"Sure how about next Saturday, 7:30pm?" she asked. He smiled and nodded then Hermione took off for the library and Oliver left the house.

When Hermione got to the library she saw Harry holding parchment and a quill, looking anxious. She sat next to him.

"What's up Harry?"

"I want to buy Luna an engagement ring. However I'm the type of guy that knows nothing about what to do for this shit."

"I thought you didn't want to accept this law?"

"Nope I'm fine with it; I like Luna, plus I was breaking up with Ginny anyways." Hermione laughed joyously then took his quill and parchment. She drew a little ring with the perfect setting for Luna. Wrote some specifics down and handed it back.

"Okay Harry, you need to take that to the jewelers, say you want a custom ring, and give them that. They will price it and make it for you with the correct enchantments. All you need to do is decide the stone or stones. I suggest aquamarine for her, that it?" Harry nodded dumbly and rose to leave, she followed. When they got downstairs only the occupants of the house remained.

"Where is everyone?" she asked

"They left a bit ago. It is getting late after all."

"Yeah and we all have dates throughout the week. What about you Harry; when are you meeting Luna?"

"Saturday; I'm gonna give her a ring on the second 'date' though."

"RINGS!" everyone but Severus and Sirius shouted.

"Forget did you?" Severus asked; Sirius chuckled.

"Mine are all in my vault I was just waiting to see what kind of jewelry she wore before I picked one up."

"Mines also in my vault; it's a family ring but my mother refused it saying it was ugly."

"Shit I forgot all about that. I hope I have enough for one." Remus sighed.

"Don't worry about it Moony, I'll pay; call it your wedding present if you must." Sirius offered. "And don't say I will pay you back." Reluctantly he agreed. Harry left shortly after and everyone went to bed after cleaning up. The twins shop would be busy for the next week or so with people wanting to prank their spouses as you had to meet by Sunday.

-o-o-

As expected the two shops were busy the next day. Hermione and Sirius were constantly going back and forth to help during the surges. It being Friday Remus and Charlie were busy teaching, so they were alone. Of course none of the men trusted anyone else enough to hire them. By the end of the day they were all worn out and decided to order in for dinner.

Over dinner they all shared stories of the day while Remus and Charlie marked papers and complained about it. For a few minutes they all forgot about their impending marriages and problems with certain Weasleys. The night was spent in laughter and fun all around. They all went to bed in good moods and stayed that way until 12:49am.

"NO! AHHHHHH! WE DIDN'T TAKE ANYTHING! HELP! WHY WON'T YOU HELP ME! AHH!" All the men ran into her room to calm her. They shook her but she wouldn't wake; eventually Sirius got into bed with Hermione and held her until she woke on her own whispering soothing words. Severus left the room and came back shortly after with a calming drought for a hysterical Hermione. He spoke quietly to the twins and told them to get some rest as they had to open early the next morning. They agreed, reluctantly, and Remus told Severus to go as well; he understood where he was coming from and left too.

"Kitten, drink this for me please." Sirius said giving her the calming drought Severus left. She took it reluctantly and the effects were instant. "What was it this time?" Sirius asked softly. Remus took her hand and Charlie sat at her feet so she was surrounded.

"Bellatrix, torture, Ron, Harry, and all of you watching; also Lucius never showed up and they did things to me." She explained quietly.

"You want to sleep or talk?" Charlie asked.

"Sleep, but can you all stay?"

"Of course." Remus told her. She fell asleep soon after. "What if she won't tell Oliver?"

"We might need to tell him the just of it so he can help her. We won't always be there for her now, as much as I hate that." Sirius added

"We'll play it by ear. If we need to we'll tell, if not we won't. She needs to trust him first and she's slow to do that." Charlie decided.

"We need to talk with the others, maybe get her to tell Harry first; I mean he was there it shouldn't be as hard." Remus supplied. "Let's get some sleep we will probably end up helping the twins and Severus tomorrow plus it's Hogsmead weekend and the upperclassmen can go to Diagon now." The men went to sleep trying to figure out how to broach this subject with Hermione and the others.


	9. First Dates

**If you recognize it it's not mine**

The next three days passed quickly and smoothly. They still hadn't brought up telling Oliver to anyone, but it was weighing on them. Suddenly it was Monday and that meant Sirius and Charlie both had dates with their matches. They were both dressed by Hermione and then sent on their ways and told not to just floo in as that was not gentlemanly.

When they returned, they were badgered on how it went. Neither had proposed yet, but figured out what kind of ring to get based on the little things they learned. Tonks was very laid back much like Charlie and he decided a small, circle, yellow topaz, on a white gold band would be best; Nothing elaborate, but still feminine. Sirius' fiancée, Mary, was much the same only preferred rose gold. She would be getting a medium sized, oval, dark blue sapphire that was surrounded by small diamonds.

Tuesday night was Severus' date with Annabella. He did everything himself and was made to give a full report when he arrived home. Annabella, or Anna as she preferred, was getting his family ring, and he decided it was perfect for her. The Prince family ring was a black gold band with a solitaire square emerald. It was indeed a beautiful ring and Hermione thought it matched what she knew of Anna perfectly.

Wednesday night Fred went out with Kathy. He ended up deciding to let her plan the date. They had lots of fun, he found out she was a former Gryffindor, and decided to use that. Her ring was to be a yellow gold band, with a tear shaped ruby surrounded by two small diamond clusters by the top. It fit them Hermione thought. After all, aside from Neville, the twins were the most loyal people Hermione knew; closely followed by Sirius.

Thursday was Georges turn. Him and Sarafina, or Sara, had a lot in common, both being pranksters. Plus her being a Hufflepuff and medi-witch helped. It meant she was loyal and nice, it also meant the twins could blow up whenever they wanted which was good. Her ring was a rectangular pink tourmaline, as it was her favorite color and her birthstone, surrounded by two small white opals on a platinum gold band.

Friday night was Remus and Julia's date. Remus was going to go as cheap as he could, but still try and make a nice choice. He went for simple white gold band, with a small, round, black onyx gem, and small diamonds embedded halfway around the band. It looked simple but elegant and understated, perfect for a healer. Hermione had recorded all their ring selections and they were going as a group to put their orders in on Sunday, the day none of them had a date.

Hermione was actually excited for her date with Oliver. He was going to pick her up at seven thirty, as planned, and they were going to have a picnic at one of the Wood families' vacation homes in Morocco. Not that she would ever tell anybody but she actually liked Oliver; just the little she knew about him intrigued her. Plus his looks helped, he really was very hot.

It was Saturday and Hermione was trying to get ready for her date but had no clue what to wear. It was times like this when she really wished she had female friends, just one would be nice. Luckily she had already charmed her hair straight for the night. While it had tamed itself into loose, manageable, ringlets over the years she preferred to keep it straight.

Finally she found a nice purple, empire waisted, summer dress that looked nice on her and pulled it on. Shoes she had no trouble with as that was one of her weaknesses; while she had little in the way of dresses and skirts she had an abundance of shoes and skinny jeans. She decided on her high top converse and charmed them grey to offset the purple. She pulled on a bulky grey cardigan and was done.

Finally ready, she ran downstairs just in time to see the floo turn green and all her boys rise to greet Oliver; as the door was hidden the floo was really the only option. The boys all had looks on their faces that suggested a firm talking to so Hermione rushed into the room and cut that out of the picture.

"Hello Oliver, ready to go?"

"Hermione, looking lovely as always, shall we?" he asked offering his arm. She smiled and was about to accept when Sirius held up the procession.

"Hermione, can we speak for one quick second please?" She narrowed her eyes but complied.

"Not a threatening word to him from any of you, I will know." She warned. Sirius led her to the kitchen, and started speaking.

"Okay Kitten, I want you to listen and not interrupt until I'm done. You need to tell Oliver about your nightmares and Malfoy Manor, and soon. The two of you will be living together soon and you need to tell him because we won't be there to help you. I know you might not trust him but you need to. Make him take a wizards oath if you need to so he can't tell anyone, but tell him and now, before it's too late and he thinks you hid it from him."

"Fine, but if this ruins my date I'm blaming you." She paused. "Sirius you know what you said about trusting him? Is it weird that I already do? I mean I barley know him and I already trust him as much as I do you guys. It scares me; usually it takes a long time to build that kind of trust from me. I don't know what it is, is there something wrong with me, am I crazy?"

"No, not crazy and nothing is wrong with you. I don't know what it is but it's a good thing. It means you have someone you can go to who won't be required by the law to tell the aurors when you kill Ron and need help hiding the body." She laughed at that and went back into the entry room where an uneasy silence was filling the room.

"Okay Oliver, sorry about that, let's go." She took his offered arm and he led the way to the floo. He griped her hard and shouted out a destination.


	10. First Dates: Part 2

**If you recognize it, it's not mine.**

Oliver and Hermione stumbled out of the floo at one of the wood vacation homes in Morocco; well Hermione stumbled and Oliver was dragged along. He chuckled lightly and righted her.

"Here we are Wood summer home. We shall be dining on a blanket outdoors madam; after all only the finest will do for you." He told her while leading her towards a patio door. She laughed at him while admiring the homes intricate design. It truly was beautiful. "Do you want to eat by the lake or in the rose gardens?"

"Rose gardens." She answered immediately. When he looked at her she explained. "I love roses. Not for the romantic properties but because they are so complex but beautiful all the same. I guess if flowers represented people the rose would represent me. Purple and black roses are my favorites." They had arrived by the end of her explanation. She gasped softly at the sight before her. It truly was beautiful, bushes upon bushes of all colors of roses. Oliver set up a picnic in the center of it all and motioned for her to sit before taking a seat himself.

"You know, the flower gardens are probably one of my favorite places at each of the Wood properties. They're always so calm and they're charmed to grow year round." Hermione smiled at him. They ate their dinner in the peace that the garden brought them. After they were done Hermione was trying to broach the subject of her torture. She finally came up with a way and prayed he would agree.

"You know I don't really know much about you or you me. Why don't we play the game 10 questions?" she suggested.

"Sure, how do you play?" he asked

"Well we take turns asking five questions each. You can ask anything you want but the trick is you also have to answer every question you ask along with the other player. So it will be a quick way to get into each other's heads."

"Okay who goes first?"

"You."

"Fine, favorite color? Mines Blue."

"Purple or green I can't pick just one." She smiled. "My turn, favorite food? Mines chocolate covered strawberries."

"Hmm that's a tough one, but I'm going to say blueberries. Best friend? Mine is my teammate Stephen Jones."

"I would have to say anyone that I live with. Harry and I aren't that close anymore and I can't be left alone with Ronald without having a panic attack. I would say I'm closest to Siri and Sev though, mostly because they're the closest thing I have to family. Favorite season? Spring for me, when it's always raining and you can go for rain walks, I love it."

"Probably Autumn for me; it's when quidditch starts and I don't do anything in the off season so it's pretty boring, plus all the different colors are beautiful. This may be a sensitive question so I'm going to let you answer first and if you don't want to I will change it but, who are all the members of your family blood or otherwise?"

"All my blood relatives are dead, my parents were the last of the line aside from me and they passed in my sixth year in an accident. My new family is Sirius, Sev, Remus, Charlie, Fred, George, Bill, Percy, and Harry. I might not be as close to the last three but they still treat me like a little sister. Though I have been looking into getting some female friends, I just can't stand most of them; all they talk about is make-up and crap like that. By the way I don't know if you're the type, but you don't need to be jealous of any of them; I don't like any of them like that."

"I understand your dynamic and I wouldn't change it for anything, so don't worry. My blood family is my parents: Jeff and Carrie Wood. But my other family is my team and that includes the coach. They're always there to have my back, I guess they've just grown on me over the years."

"Biggest fear. Mine is probably heights or Bellatrix but she's dead so I guess heights."

"Heights, interesting. Mine has to be losing everyone I love or care about. Biggest pet peeve, people acting like they know everything when they don't; if they do then by all means but if not then it's like shut up." Hermione laughed at his description.

"Well mine has to be people thinking their better than others. Favorite flower? You already know mine."

"Mine is also roses, for much the same reasons, the complexity is beautiful. Where is your favorite place? Mine is the Wood Cottage's gardens; I wouldn't mind living there if you agree after you've seen it, but I haven't been to all the properties yet so that may change."

"That sounds lovely, my favorite place is not a library like everyone seems to think, but my favorite place is a clearing in the forbidden forest. It has purple roses everywhere and a lake. It's beautiful in every season." she paused this was the last question and it was a whopper. "I actually asked to play this game because of my answer to this question. It's what Siri was talking to me about. You're going to answer first then I will but please promise not to freak out or run off."

"Of course I won't Hermione, you know you need a nickname. How about Mia?"

"Okay, I'm calling you Ollie though weather you like it or not." He chuckled and nodded. "What's your worst memory from the war?" he froze but recovered quickly.

"My worst memory from the war is the final battle. I watched so many people die on both sides. I was forced to kill and these were people I knew dying all around me; plus I had no clue where my family was. So yeah that's mine."

"My turn... it all starts after we were on the run for a little while. Ron was wearing one of Voldemort's horcruxes and he and Harry had a row. He left us in the middle of the forest then came back a month later and Harry just forgave him. The next day he got Harry all wound up and made him say _his_ name. Snatchers caught us and brought us to Malfoy Manor." Hermione was unconsciously rubbing her left forearm, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Oliver. "Harry and Ron were taken to the dungeons but they kept me in the drawing room. Bellatrix had seen the sword of Gryffindor and thought we took it from her vault. She tried to get me to tell her how we got it but I wouldn't.

"She used the cruciatus curse on me for almost 40 minutes I think. She set Greyback and a few other men on me, but Lucius told them they were needed elsewhere so they handed me back to Bella. She ended up using a knife when the curse didn't get me to scream. I still have the nightmares three or four times a week and can't wake on my own. That's why they wanted me to tell you, for when we live together. But in my nightmares Ron is standing watching and laughing, Ginny recently joined him. Sometimes I also have to watch everyone I love or care for die. It's terrible." She wouldn't look him in the face, she was staring at the roses closest to her. He took her hand and decided to get her to look at him before asking a question.

"Hermione, this doesn't change anything about you. Do me a favor and lift your left sleeve please." She did and he saw her MUDBLOOD scar. She was crying so he lifted her arm kissed the scar and pulled her to his chest. She melted into his embrace and continued to cry but he felt her confusion. "It's just a word, it means nothing to me." he told her, she visibly relaxed and he just held her for a while.

Eventually her breathing evened out, so he carefully lifted her and flicked his wand, the picnic was put away, and he carried her to the floo. Seconds later he stepped into Grimmauld and saw Severus waiting. He stood when they entered.

"She told you?" he asked, Oliver nodded and Severus took her limp form. "The others went to sleep already and I'm stuck with her for the night because they all have ring shopping tomorrow. A piece of advice, don't show her pity, all you will get is her temper. Though that may help get her mind off things sometimes and remove any pent up emotions so it could work."

"Thank you, I will keep that in mind. Also thank you and Sirius for getting her to tell me. I have a feeling you might've been involved and I'm glad I didn't have to wait until we got married to find out. Though now I want to kill Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter, but that's natural I think." Severus chuckled and nodded.

"I assume she didn't get a chance to tell you, but all of our spouses will be meeting here on Sunday to go over wedding plans; dates and such; as well as possibilities of where we will all live. It has the added bonus of getting out of Weasley Sunday dinner; you are of course invited to attend unless you want to leave it all to her which I don't suggest she will make it terrible on purpose, but if you can just be here around noon, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be here I only train Monday to Saturday. Sundays I have off. See you then professor, I need to get going, early morning have to pick her ring up from the jewelers, good thing she loves roses." He said cryptically.

"I'm not your professor anymore Severus is fine, have a goodnight Mr. Wood."

"It's Oliver and you too." He smiled, stepped back into the floo, and was gone with a soft whispered address. Severus put Hermione to bed, magically changed her, and washed her face before going to try and sleep before her possible nightmare.


	11. Planning the Futures and Being Exposed

**AN If you recognize it, it's not mine.**

As planned all fourteen of them met on Sunday. They had brought two more chairs into to entry room and rearranged it so they were all facing each other. They came in one by one, Oliver being the first, and Anna being last and looking anxious. Hermione was the only one who had a table in front of her; she had ink, quills, and parchment.

"Hello everyone, welcome back, and hopefully Ronald won't interrupt today. Now down to business. Hermione here will write out the plans. So let's start with dates. We have six months from the second week of September that brings us to February, oh how festive. Any first choices?"

"Um... Hermione if you don't mind maybe we should do it after the worst of game season ends? The time in between game season and the finals. If not it might get a little hectic. So that will be in November."

"That sounds doable; I really don't want a big wedding so that should work out fine. How about November 24th? It's a Friday and they're legally obligated to give you the day after off so you would have three days off."

"Sounds good to me."

"Okay then one down 6 to go. Youngest to oldest? It would be the opposite as to when we found out our matches and only fair to Sev."

"Sure, George, my earless twin, go ahead." Fred said

"Sarafina your choice, but try to make it early in the week so I can just leave him to the masses. Maybe during Christmas break too." She laughed as did the others at Fred's betrayed look.

"How about January 18th? It will give me time to plan and coordinate with my parents in the states for all the details."

"Sure thing, Fred you're up."

"Well wifey, I actually have a suggestion if you're not against it." She nodded and he continued. "I was thinking November 4th as it would be nice and as a plus the invitations to the youngest and parental Weasleys might get lost and they won't show up!" Hermione snorted.

"I like the date, not the reason for it, but I will accept even with your wishful thinking." Kathy responded. "Who's next?"

"Charlie, brother dearest-"

"When will you be-"

"Tying the knot-"

"With the lovely missus-"

"Nymphadora Tonks?" Fred and George finished together

"October 15rd" Tonks said automatically. Charlie looked at her. "If that's okay; I just love that time of year." He laughed and nodded. "Remus your up but I'm tempted to make my cousin go first."

"No, no, Julia you can pick a date but if it's on or around a full moon it will need to change."

"How about February 1st?" he nodded and Hermione wrote it down.

"Mary, pick a date, any date, but also not near the full moon as I will be busy keeping Remus, the misbehaved rabbit under control." Everyone laughed while Remus glared.

"Well I was thinking December 12th as nobody else chose December." She answered shyly.

"Cool with me. Sevsev you go."

"Don't call me that mutt, I will be busy for a week before the full moon, brewing wolvesbane, keep that in mind, other than that your choice."

"Okay, maybe the week after the moon then? How about January 24th?" he nodded.

"Well that's all the weddings, now the living arrangements. We need to move in together by October 12th, so we really should talk about who's going where. Why don't we speak privately and come back in 20 minutes to tell each other?" Hermione suggested. They nodded and Hermione grabbed Oliver's hand and ran from the room dragging him after her. "I call kitchen!" she threw back.

"So Ollie, how's it going? We haven't really talked since our date." She was really hoping her story or bawling didn't scare him off.

"If you think you've scared me off your wrong." He said seeming to know what she was thinking. "Now I believe we need to talk about living arrangements. As I said I like Wood Cottage but there are 6 properties available for residence or Wood Manor if you want to live with my parents. It's really up to you though."

"I like the sound of the cottage, no offence but I don't really want to live in a manor. Maybe we could visit the other properties and compare them?"

"Sounds good, I think I'm free to do that in a few weeks. I know you don't like house elf enslavement but the ones that work for my family are treated nicely, paid, given time off, and have been with us so long they're practically family so I ask that you accept that."

"Fine but only because they are treated well; also I'm good to go look anytime, I have no job other than with the twins and Sev, I'm afraid I just don't know what I want to do. Nothing seems to catch my attention. I like doing research and creating new things, I get to do that with all of them. I hope you accept that I won't just sit around all day and I will be working."

"I accept it and encourage it; I wouldn't want you getting bored who knows what you'd do to my house." He chuckled, she smiled and shrugged.

"Oliver, if I come into that kitchen and see you two snogging you will be getting punched." Charlie yelled. Hermione laughed despite herself and grabbed Oliver's arm to bring him back to the other room.

"Okay let's get this over with; I have a hot date with a cauldron and my twin." Everyone laughed, except George, at Fred's comment.

"Why do I need to be there, it's your turn to make them? Besides it wasn't me who ruined the last batch."

"Simple my less handsome twin, you are the one who's better at charms and I'm potions. This recipe needs both thus both twins!"

"Let's just get this over with I have six special orders on rush." Severus said wearily.

"I can help with those if you want Sev."

"No you can't" Remus out in. "I can but you and Sirius are hiring for the twins."

"Crap I forgot about that. Good thing there are only like 4 applicants. Anyway back on topic; where are you living Sirius?"

"Here, all my other properties were deemed too dark or are in other countries farther away. What about you Kitten where are you and Oliver living?"

"We are going to look at the Wood properties sometime soon and decide after that, Remus?"

"Here with Sirius, nobody will house a werewolf, even if we could afford a place, and my cottage needs to be rebuilt after a death eater attack."

"Well if you need help I can loan some time. Okay we will go Sev, Charlie, Fred, and then George." Hermione grinned.

"One of the Prince properties, we haven't seen them yet so we will be doing the same as you. Of course I need to go to Gringotts and get the deeds first."

"Oh right Gringotts; wish I could go there it would be nice, maybe I should find some good information to give the goblins, make it up to them."

"Make what up to the goblins?" Mary asked.

"Oh, I broke into a Gringotts vault and set free their dragon during the war." She said like it was nothing. Oliver leaned over to her.

"You need to give me the full story from the war sometime soon, please." He whispered, she nodded, and Charlie spoke.

"Well I have a house in Ireland that I bought before going to Romania, so that's the best option I think. Hey Hermione look at us both moving to Ireland or maybe Scotland for you?"

"My favorite is in Ireland, only two of the properties are in Scotland, three in Ireland, and two in England. Then just vacation homes in Italy and Morocco; way too many places."

"Well me and Fred already talked and there are two apartments above the shop so we think we will live there for now. Fred on the lower level because his leg still bothers him from time to time, and I will take the top floor. We will need to clean it up first of course but if we use the office as a stock room we should be done in a week or two."

"Well that's it, thank you all for taking the time to do this I know it may be strange, but we are very close so you should get to know us all." Sirius said standing up.

"Umm can I say something really quickly?" Sirius sat back down and looked to Anna. "First I just want to apologize and say I had nothing to do with it. So I heard around the office that sometime this week they are releasing an article. Rita Skeeter wrote it and it is about Hermione and Oliver. Somehow she found out you two were matched, I don't know how I haven't said a word I promise. Maybe it was Ronald or Ginny?"

"Oh no." All the men spoke.

"Let's see how bad it is, but I think I have my restitution for the goblins. And no it wasn't Ronald or Ginerva Weasley; they are too busy denying the law to leak information about it. I will take care of it. Thank you for the warning Anna, I appreciate it." She spoke calmly even though she had the distinct feeling this was just the calm before the storm. They all left one by one until it was just Anna, who was hanging back with Mary.

"I think I might be forced to write a follow up article about Rita's. I'm sorry if I do but if I don't I will lose my job. I will deny any false claims and be as nice as I can though." Mary spoke to them all.

"It's fine it is your job after all."Sirius spoke, that seemed to calm her as she visibly relaxed. Anna was still stiff as a board as Severus hadn't spoke one word or moved from his seat since she told everyone about the article. Anna was just leaving when he finally spoke.

"Anna do you know when she will be releasing her article and when she got the information to write it?"

"Umm, no she wouldn't say when just this week my guess is Tuesday or Thursday maybe, that's when the biggest gossip in the printer press arranges the articles, so it would get front page. I think the talk started on Thursday, but I hadn't seen her the day before so I'm guessing Monday she got it, and Tuesday she found what she was looking for, Wednesday she wrote it, and Thursday she bragged." He nodded and thought some more.

"Thank you for the warning, but you should prepare yourself as well. This might not be just about Hermione and Oliver; it could be about all of us. You guys should warn the other girls to be on guard after the article.


	12. Hermione's Temper & Meeting the Team

**If you recognize it, it's not mine**

As predicted the article came out on Thursday. Hermione woke up and cooked breakfast, she knew the article would come out today as it didn't come out on Tuesday. She decided to not wake the boys up in hopes she could hide the article before they saw it. After all, how would she get her restitution if Rita was dead?

Severus, ever the early riser, walked into the kitchen and saw Hermione at the table. He saw what she was doing and walked back out to wake all the others, knowing the Prophet would be there by the time he got back. Indeed it was and Hermione was scarily calm after she had read it.

"Kitten is the article in there?" Sirius asked, she nodded, and smiled.

"Did you read it?" the twins asked in sync, again she nodded.

"Is it bad?" Charlie asked, receiving a nod.

"Why don't you read it to us?" Remus asked.

"And then tell us what you're thinking about right now." Severus finished. They all sat and waited; she picked up the Prophet from the table, cleared her throat, and read it.

 ** _MARRIAGE LAW MATCHES JINXED!_**

 ** _By: Rita Skeeter_**

 ** _It seems, my dear readers, that this marriage law has brought on lot's of odd matches. For one Luna Lovegood has been matched with the one and only Harry Potter. However that is not what surprises this writer, but Hermione Grangers match. Now as we know Miss. Granger has left a trail of broken hearts all over the place. She is generally known as a harlot, for dating two men at once in her fourth year. She seems to have a thing for the rich and quidditch players; proven by her dating Harry Potter and Viktor Krum, but turning down Ronald Weasley._**

 ** _I guess it is just a coincidence then, that she was matched with Puddlemere United's captain and Keeper Oliver Wood? This writer thinks not. It is a well known fact that Miss. Granger will do anything she needs to in order to get what she wants. Oliver wood is just her type; so does this mean that she rigged this and her match is with Oliver's? If she wanted Oliver, just what means is she using to keep him? The imperious curse? Love potions?_**

 ** _Have no fear, this writer will find these answers for you when she does an exclusive article with the illustrious Hermione Granger._** ****

"What the bloody hell?" Sirius was the first to break out of is shock induced silence. That seemed to wake the rest of them.

"That lying no good-"

"I'm going to kill her!"

"The imperious?!"

"Love potions?"

"What made you so calm before?" the table went quiet again at Severus' question.

"Oh, just the look on her face when I turn her into the goblins and the aurors come and get her." She said wistfully.

"What do you have on her anyways?" Fred asked, she just tutted, and stood to clean the table.

"Time to go to work, I say twins shop today for me and I can help Lee with the cash today while he restocks." They all rose and left for their respective jobs, and Sirius to see Tonks for his assignment.

Hermione and the twins arrived at the shop and set about opening it, letting Lee in minutes later. At 9:30am the doors unlocked magically and Hermione turned her back to go behind the counter as Lee headed to the store room. The twins were going to the lab to start testing a new product they were working on.

A gaggle of girls stormed into the store, wands raised, and pointed at Hermione's turned back. The twins didn't know what to do and the girls stared shouting curses and hexes. They all hit Hermione in the back and she couldn't pull her wand before she fell to the ground and began getting assaulted.

"LEE! Help George get them out of here! I've got Hermione." Fred ran over, collected Hermione's limp form, and ran her up the warded stairs, to the floo near the top outside the apartments, dodging random hexes still being fired at her. George got all the others under control and out, looked to Hermione, and ran to Severus' shop. He stole some potions ignoring Serverus' questions and told him to listen to Lee. He entered the shop again and sent Lee over to explain as he went to Fred.

"We need to get her out of here for the day."

"But we can't close the shop and everybody else is working. We are not leaving her alone. We also need to heal her."

"Where can we bring her?"

"Oliver!"

"The stadiums warded and nobody can get in or out without permission, maybe she can sit there for the day, help the coach make plays or something." The plan set George cast his hyena patronus and sent it with a message to Oliver, telling him what happened and that they wanted to know if he could let her chill with his coach. A minute later a hawk patronus with Oliver's voice told them to come on through. Fred took Hermione and George stayed to reopen the shop.

When they arrived through the floo Oliver was waiting for them. He took them to the coach's box and told him to put her on the bench. Fred walked through and saw the whole team standing around trying to see what had Oliver so freaked out before hand. He put her down on the bench and Oliver sat on the opposite side from Fred.

"Oliver, I need you to help me here. Take these and pour them down her throat. I need to see if she has any broken bones, they beat on her pretty hard."

"I don't understand why they would do this just because of a stupid article."

"Neither do I." Five patronus' came into the room and Fred groaned. "Oliver you continue, I need to placate the rest of her body guards." He tapped the dolphin and Tonks voice was heard, then Sirius' dog, Severus' cobra, Remus' wolf, and Charlie's Chinese fireball. All carried almost the same message. They wanted to know if she was alright. Fred conjured his fox and sent it with the message that he would tell Hermione to send a patronus when she woke up.

"Okay, she looks healed I can probably wake her now... I hope I didn't forget anything, Hermione's the healer not me."

"Fred, she'll be fine, from what I've heard she's had a lot worse."

"Yeah, yeah I know." He cast the spell and Hermione opened her eyes. She looked around and saw Oliver. "Hermione when you decide you feel okay enough can you send a patronus to everyone telling them your alive, you have them all worried?" She nodded, immediately conjured her otter, and sent it off.

"What happened?"

"A bunch of people who were upset that you supposedly picked your match for the law came into the store and attacked you when your back was turned." Fred knew you had to be blunt with Hermione from time to time and this was one of those times. Her eyes immediately looked like a fire had been set in them.

Hermione. Was. Furious.

Under normal circumstances she didn't trust the general population, and even less so after Rita Bloody Skeeter got to them, but attacking an unarmed witch when she had her back turned is what starts wars. She knew she needed to control her temper but she couldn't help it. Fred seen it coming and quickly ushered everyone to one side while making a Rita sized and shaped dummy with her picture on it.

Hermione drew her wand and was seething; she cast at least 20 spells some of which the players hadn't even heard before. When she was done she dropped her wand walked up to it and delivered a round house kick to its neck that beheaded the doll.

"Let the heads roll, huh Mia?" Oliver joked; Fred winced knowing you needed to keep quite when she was like this; Hermione surprised him though by laughing. Fred looked to Oliver only to find his eyes slightly narrowed and him looking at Hermione like she was a problem he needed to solve. All of sudden when Hermione was getting a little hysterical Oliver stepped forward and took her into his arms, just as she broke down.

The coach Ted Mills stepped forward and whispered something to Oliver he nodded and smiled.

"Okay team, back to practice. Martinez you take the hoops for now until Wood can take them back." Carlos Martinez was the reserve keeper for the team and also older than the rest of the team, much like the other reserves. Oliver was the youngest on the team, but he made up for that with his determination. He led her out of the area and into a hallway, Fred followed. He brought them to the coach's office; it had a perfect view of the pitch so she could watch the practice to not get bored after Fred left, and sat her down in the desk chair.

She had calmed down significantly at this point and was now just sitting in silence. Fred stepped over to them and spoke so softly if they weren't silent they wouldn't have heard him.

"I need to get back and help George and Lee with the shop; will you be okay here with Oliver for the day?" she nodded and sniffled slightly. Fred left and Oliver spoke to her now.

"Mia, I need to get back to work now. You can stay in here or go sit with the coach. When it's lunch time you can come eat with me out in the stands. If you want to work on a product or something, there is some parchment and quills you can use right in here, coach won't mind." He explained opening a drawer.

"Okay, thank you Ollie. And sorry for the scene I just made, it wasn't very mature of me I know."

"Don't apologize it was funny, plus I wouldn't mind doing that to her myself."

"Is there an owl around here somewhere? I need to send a message to the goblins."

"Sorry, don't think so. Why don't you just charm it to fly there on its own or send it later?"

"Okay thank you, now I've taken enough of your time. Get back to work and apologize to Coach Mills for me, for interrupting practice." He waved her off and left the room. She watched the pitch for a few minutes until she saw Oliver zoom into place. Smiling she turned around and took a piece of parchment and a quill. She wrote a letter to the goblins apologising and offering up Rita's animagus secret as compensation. She decided to send it tomorrow and put it in her pocket.

Just as she removed her letter she caught a glimpse of the sheet below it. It looked like a play, unfinished, but effective. She looked to the pitch and tried to call on her limited quidditch knowledge to see if she could place them; she couldn't.

Hermione was then met with a dilemma. Tell the coach she found a flaw in his reasoning with this play and risk being accused of snooping, or ignore it and hope for the best. After all it was kind of obvious, just a small piece of logic that didn't fit with the rest. She stared at it trying to figure out all the ways that one flaw in calculation affected the play. All she realized was that creating the plays used a lot of arithmancy and muggle mathematical physics calculations. The door opened, Hermione jumped about a foot in the air, and let out a small shriek. She blushed when she saw it was the coach.

"Hello Miss. Granger, its lunch time, and Oliver would like to see you." He was laughing at her, and she decided it was now or never.

"Sir, I don't mean to pry in something that's probably none of my business, but did you know this play has an almost one hundred percent chance it will fail?" she asked. "I know it's not my forte, but it seems to me that these plays are just arithmancy and muggle mathematical physics calculations. It's just I don't know who this is but no matter what there is no way he will be able to turn that way or fit through there with the speed he would be going." The coach furrowed his brows, came towards her, and picked up the play. She took that as her cue and left the office.

"Mia, there you are! I thought the coach had kidnapped you for a minute." Oliver joked.

"Oh Ollie, he wouldn't kidnap me; that's Sirius' job. I just noticed that the play on his desk wouldn't work and pointed that out." Oliver gaped at her then composed himself, and patted the seat next to him.

"So Mia, I assume you have no idea who any of this gits are?" She shook her head so Oliver started to introduce them. "Well let's see then, boys wave when I say your name, the reserve keeper is Carlos Martinez, the seeker is Dan Ajax, the reserve is Patrick Graham, then the beaters: Cameron Webber and Jack white. The reserves: Tony Cornwell and Simon Green. Reserve chasers: Josh Martin, Morgan Larrison, and Lucas Jackson. Then the first string chasers: William Avery, Tim Collins, and Stephen Jones." To Hermione, who always had trouble with names, they all looked the same: tall, athletic, and men. She smiled.

"Well can't say I will remember your names but hi, nice to meet you." They all chuckled and her smile widened. The coach came back in and walked over to the cluster of teammates.

"Okay everyone back to your drills, Miss. Granger I have a few questions for you if you don't mind?" Hermione shook her head and the team flew off. "You said making and perfecting plays was all arithmancy and muggle mathematical physics calculations. Do you know how to use these methods to create plays?"

"Well kind of I guess. I'm used to using it to make war and battle strategies, but the concept is similar. Why?"

"I know you don't like quidditch, but you seem to like arithmancy; is there any way I could convince you to work with me to create the plays for the team? It could just be consultant work if you prefer, but I would love to use your brain."

"Well, I would need to talk to Oliver about it first, seeing as how it was his career first and I don't want to seem clingy, but I don't see why not. It's not like I have a job anyway, other than helping two different shops keep up on product production. It would also keep me interested and still give me free time. I will need to get back to you."

"Of course, if you don't mind me asking what two stores do you help with the stock production?"

"Oh not at all, and they are three of my roommates stores; Weasleys Wizard Wheezes, where I help with production and creation of new products, and Snape Apothecaries, I make some of the potions so he has more time for his research."

"Interesting, well feel free to visit or come along to practice with Oliver anytime you want. Be sure to talk to him about the job too yeah?"

"Deal, but I think I will wait until after the first game which is in three days, right? You know, as to not distract him too much."

"Good, and for someone who doesn't like quidditch you sure know a lot about it."

"I live with six men and grew up best friends with two different men. I have no female friends, the closest I had also grew up with men, so I was doomed from the start."

"If you have no female friends, who is going to be you matron of honor?"

"I was thinking Tonks would be a good pick. She is the closest thing I have to a female in my family, plus she's marrying one of my roommates. She also hates quidditch, mostly because she can't play it due to being far too clumsy, but still." The coach and Hermione continued to watch the practice and make small talk.

At the end of the day Oliver took her home and the boys all inspected her from head to toe. She told them about the job offer and they told her to take it. As a bonus Oliver also invited them all to the opening game against the Chudley Cannons on Saturday.

Hermione was just beginning to enjoy quidditch; after all watching your fiancé, whom you may have a small crush on, play a sport, certainly isn't terrible. She was just learning to like quidditch, was her last thought before entering dreamland.


	13. Quidditch Game 1

**If you recognize it, it's not mine.**

Oliver and Hermione had gone out on another date the day before the quidditch game. They had a late night and he stayed for supper with the rest of them. They had all talked so late he ended up staying in one of the guest rooms, and got the same wake-up call as the twins. He glared at Hermione all through breakfast, but his smile ruined the effect.

Oliver now had to leave for pre-game warm-ups and Hermione walked him to the floo.

"Hey Ollie, be careful, I get the feeling if I need a new match it might not be as good a person as you. Also tomorrow can we meet for another picnic or something; I want to talk to you about something?"

"Sure Mia, and I will be fine, have been ever since I was a kid playing on my practice brooms." He chuckled. "Hey, do you mind if we make a stop after our picnic? You kind of need to meet my parents at some point, I mean I've meet your family so I guess..."

"Don't worry Ollie; I would love to meet your parents."

"Thank the gods for that." He turned to leave but stopped the last minute and came back.

"Forget something?"

"Yup." He said and then he gave her a soft, but quick, kiss on the lips. "Forgot my good luck kiss from my beautiful almost fiancé." He knew what he said wouldn't sink in until long after he left so he took the chance and fled, he was late as it was.

"Wait; did he call me his almost fiancé?" she asked the empty room.

"Yes, yes he did. He also kissed you, but that seems to have just gone over your head, along with the lucky thing." Severus drawled from the doorway.

"Trust me, I know he kissed me." She smiled softly in remembrance. Severus would have hated the dopey eyed expression on her face if he didn't know Oliver was a good man. He was glad that Hermione got a good match she could get along with, and who wouldn't take advantage of the situation. _If only my match wasn't scared that I was going to kill her..._ he thought sadly.

"Sev?"

"Yes?"

"For my wedding, who is going to walk me down the aisle, and who will be my matron of honor and brides maids?" Hermione's parents had died in a plane crash shortly after she had erased all their memories to keep them safe in the war. She missed them terribly, but knew they would've died either way.

"Perhaps... you should talk to the other women who we will be marrying? Suggest going dress shopping, having tea, or wedding planning. Or you could have a bachelor of honor, Fred or George would love that." Hermione laughed.

"What about the aisle? Without my dad alive... it's hard. People think I will ask Harry, but we just aren't that close; he was always closer to Ronald. Maybe one of you guys? But I wouldn't know who to choose, probably you."

"Hermione, why don't you talk to Oliver about this, or the other brides I'm not really in a position to offer advice on these kinds of things. After all, my wife to be thinks I'm going to turn around and kill her." She smiled

"I'm just going to have to change that then, thank you Sev." He nodded and the other boys entered the room.

"Hey Kitten, have you decided if you were going to take that strategist job?" Fred asked.

"If it's okay with Ollie I'll take it, if not then I've no idea what I'm going to do." He nodded. "Actually today I'm going to see what each player's strengths, weaknesses, and top speeds are in the game environment, along with any other variables I might need. I mean from what you all say it's a sure win and I will be able to take a look at all of them except the reserves, hopefully." She paused for a second. "I might need to look into the rules and see what constitutes a foul, maybe some arithmancy books as well; OH and muggle textbooks for Physics!"

The boys all shared a look, she was getting excited. That meant books, and lots of them. _Come to think of it_ Sirius thought _this is the happiest I've seen her since the war._ It was a good thing; she had finally found something that would hold her interest.

"Umm, hey guys, Tonks and I are getting married soon-ish right? Well I just found out that I need to fix the house, but we want to move in together before the wedding; would any of you mind if she came and lived here until the house is fixed?" they smiled and shook their heads.

"You're not sharing a room with my cousin until you're married though." Charlie paled a little and then was blushing as red as his hair. They all laughed. Then Hermione saw the time and frog marched them all to the floo. The twins found it amusing that she was so excited to go to a watch a sport she detested.

If Hermione were to tell the truth, she never hated quidditch; just the rivalry it cause between the houses, and the roughness of the game. After a war though, the things that she used to think were brutal were nothing to her. She didn't want anyone to get hurt, but they signed up for it and it was practically guaranteed.

Upon arrival they went to the quidditch player invitees seats only to find two too many Gingers inside. Ron and Ginny were there decked out in Chudley Cannons memorabilia, while Ron looked ecstatic, Ginny looked like she wanted to kill someone. If Hermione thought she was in a bad mood before, it was nothing compared to when Hermione, Sirius, and Remus entered the Box. Severus hadn't come as he hated sports, the twins were with Kathy, and Charlie had stayed with Severus. Ginny stood and marched over to her, which seemed to not affect Ron, who was watching the pitch.

"You, you're the reason my Harry bought Loony that ring."

"Actually that was the law, all I did was told him what to get after he asked for my help designing it. Did she like it?"

"Yes, you moron anybody would like it. Why are you even here?"

"I was invited by Oliver, and the coach, and the team, basically Puddlemere."

"Yeah, right."

"Whatever Ginny, can I sit down now?" she walked passed her and sat in her seat with the boys on either side. All through the game she took notes on their performance, and how she could use it. Remus was patient and answered all the questions she would randomly ask about fouls and rules to know if something was allowed. By the end of the game, which Puddlemere won, she had a pretty good idea of what her first play could be and had it mapped out. She also managed to fix the coaches play.

After the game Oliver approached the group 6 (Fred, George, and Kathy had joined them) and pulled Hermione to the side.

"Are we still having a picnic tomorrow?" She nodded. "I know this is kind of a weird arrangement and stuff, but just know I am getting you a ring and I haven't forgotten. I was just trying to get to know you before I got one. However the type I'm getting can't be magically resized so do you know your ring size?"

"Yes, a size 6, and thank you. By the way you played well today, from what I could tell." He chuckled.

"I have to go; we have a team members only after party after each game. I should be there already but I wanted to come see you first. So I will pick you up around noon tomorrow?" she smiled and nodded. After he turned and left, the boys were at her side and leading her to the apparition point. It was already hard to be as short as Hermione was but she hated big crowds; she could never see over anybody. This is precisely why she grabbed onto one of the twins every time they went through one together, as they were over 6 feet tall, they could clear a path.

All night Hermione couldn't sleep fretting over what Oliver's reaction to her new job offer would be. She was hoping she wouldn't seem clingy or obsessive. Then on top of that there was meeting his parents. All together she didn't get much sleep that night. Then after she finally fell asleep she was awoken by a nightmare. At least she wasn't the only one to not sleep much, as she was far too hysterical to fall back to sleep.

When it was time to get out of bed Hermione had one thought: This might be hell or it might be amazing. Then again is there ever really any in between?


	14. Meeting the In-Laws

**If you recognize it, it's not mine. By the way if you have any constructive criticism that's fine tell me, but just plain criticism is mean and I honestly don't care about what you say if it's rude or mean. This is my story I will write it however I want, even if that makes Oliver into a giant and the Weasley parents dicks. Thank you for reading this far!**

Hermione got out of bed and kicked the boys out so she could get ready for the day. After taking a long shower, and charming her hair into a loose plait, she started on her clothing. She ended up in a pair of high waisted black skinny jeans and a grey, long sleeve, cropped, knit sweater with a pair of red ballet flats. She decided she was ready and went downstairs for breakfast.

"Hey Hermione, are you still going to invite all the other girls over to go dress shopping or something?" Charlie asked.

"Umm, yeah I should probably do that soon, maybe I will send some letters before I leave, why?"

"Well Tonks was talking and by the sounds of things she, like you, has nobody to go with or be her matron of honor, I think she was going to ask you. She's even having Sirius walk her down the aisle."

"Speaking of walking down the aisle; I need someone to walk me. I think either Sev or Remus."

"I would really rather not, Hermione. It's not that I don't want to, but I think that's something Remus would be better for; he has been here for you longer."

"But you are more protective of her, Severus, more fatherly."

"Why don't you both do it?" Fred suggested.

"Yeah, that would work, Remus on the left, Severus on the right."

"Sounds good." Hormone said from her post by the owls, writing 6 identical letters inviting the others to go dress shopping with her. After all Tonks and Charlie would be marrying in two weeks. She sent them out just as Oliver walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Mia, are you ready?"

"Yup just let me grab my wand." She said taking a fake out of her pocket and holding her hand out in front of Sirius. He pouted but gave it back. Oliver smiled and led her to the entry room.

"Hey, do you mind if we meet my parents first? They have something they need to do later and we would probably miss them."

"Of course not, let's go." Hermione was biting her lip, a nervous habit she had that threw off the nonchalant voice she used. He smiled and put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into the floo.

"Come on and remember they don't bite... often." He smirked as he threw the floo powder and spoke their destination. "Wood Manor!"

When they stepped out on the other side they were met by two older people that she guessed were his parents. The man was almost an exact copy of Oliver, if not a little shorter, but had blond hair, he also looked about 50 or 60. The woman was much shorter than Oliver and only an inch taller than Hermione herself. She had Oliver's hair, but other than that there was almost no resemblance. So far this was going much better than her last visit to a manor.

They both seemed to be eyeing her as if she was going to grab something, turn tail, and run. Then again she was eyeing them too, just discreetly; ever since the war started, she had never been very trusting. Oliver may have gotten past her defenses, but that didn't mean his parents would.

Oliver led her over to the couch opposite the two chairs the older Woods were sitting in, and pulled her down beside him.

"Hermione these are my parents: Jeff and Carrie. Mom, Dad, this is Hermione. Despite what Rita Skeeter says, who may I remind you went to Azkaban, she is a very nice woman. That means stop glaring, and eyeing her up." Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The elder Woods seemed to take their son's word for it.

"So Hermione, what do you do for a living?" Mr. Wood asked.

"I don't have a permanent job at the moment, but I have an offer I am considering." _Oh no this is not how this conversation should start!_

"What do you mean permanent job?" Mrs. Wood asked.

"Well I have been working at two shops, helping my friends manage them, but after I was attacked in one of them I'm just working behind the scenes. You know making and creating products."

"What shops, and could you explain what you mean by _making and creating products_? Also did you say friends?" Mrs. Wood rapid fired.

"Well yes, friends, they own the two shops. One of them is Snape's Apothecaries. I help Severus make the potions so he can do research, which I sometimes help with, for new potions he's working on. The other is Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. Fred and George usually have me help make the more popular products they can't keep stocked and I help come up with, and test, some of the new joke products."

"I never pictured you as a prankster, what products have you created?" Mr. Wood and Oliver were silent knowing nobody could stop Mrs. Wood. Mr. Wood was listening trying to figure more out about her, while Oliver was hoping it would stop soon.

"Well, the Boat Horn Wake up Calls was my creation, that's how I wake Sirius and Remus in the morning. So were the Chicken makers, they aren't out yet but should be in a few days. That's how I wake Charlie up and they found it hilarious."

"Just how many people do you live with?"

"Only six, well seven starting Tuesday."

"Who do you live with?"

"Well there is Charlie, Fred, and George Weasley. Then Remus Lupin-"

"You live with a werewolf?" Mrs. Wood asked in disgust.

"Yes I do. In fact he's one of the people walking me down the aisle at the wedding. Then there is Sirius Black-"

"The mass murderer?"

"No, he isn't a mass murderer; he was proven innocent because he didn't commit murder! Siri would never hurt his friends, Peter Pettigrew would and that's who did. Finally we have Nymphadora Tonks, who is marrying Charlie in two weeks, moving in on Tuesday and of course Severus Snape."

"You live with Severus Snape? I could handle you working for him from time to time, but living with him as well as five other men? No I can't accept that."

"Well you are just going to have to get used to it; he's the other person walking me down the aisle."

"No, absolutely not! How do we know you aren't sleeping with them all? Add that to the fact that you're living with oh let's see: Two pranksters, a mass murderer, a dangerous creature, and a death eater! This is not acceptable!"

"SHUT UP! Now I'm sorry to yell and I will apologize now for snapping at you, but you deserve it! These people are my friends; we have all saved one another in one way or another.

"That 'mass murderer' is the man who saved my life in third year from thousands of dementors. He is Harry's godfather and my friend.

"The two pranksters saved me from having a nervous breakdown in fifth year before my OWLs and I saved one of them from certain death and the other from a life of depression without his twin.

"The 'dangerous creature' is the kindest man I know. He risked his life time and time again, coming back almost dead each time, trying to get the werewolves on our side of the war! He has been ostracized his whole life and can't keep a job, he NEEDS to live with Sirius because he can't afford anything, including clothing!

"Then there is Charlie who you seemed to have missed. He is kind and patient, he is like my older brother. He was the person I latched onto after all the dust settled because he was _there_.

"Finally Severus, sure he started as a death eater, but he joined our side one month in after his childhood friend was murdered, even though he _begged_ Voldemort not to kill her. He killed Dumbledore because of an unbreakable vow with said man who gave the orders for him to do it. He was already dying. He saved me and Charlie's life while I was saving his from a snake bite.

"You don't get to judge them. I became closer to them in two weeks of living together than I did in 7 years with Harry and Ron, who I can't even speak to anymore without a marriage proposal. You don't get to judge them because you got the easy job in the war, sit back until the final battle, we were fighting all along.

"This is my family you're talking about and you should know I won't sleep with them because I don't want to, in fact I'm still a virgin. These are the men that get no sleep because as soon as they fall asleep I wake them with my nightmares and they stay up the rest of the night making sure I sleep." Hermione's temper was flared and, sure, she ranted to and insulted her future in laws but hey, they deserved it. She hoped they learned their lesson.

"What would you have experienced to have nightmares?" Mrs. Wood scoffed, Oliver groaned, and Hermione smiled at him to let him know she wasn't angry with him.

"Well let's see shall we? In fact why don't we go by years in the wizarding world?

"First year: attacked by troll, almost died. Attacked by three headed dog named Fluffy; attacked and almost killed by flying keys; played a life sized game of wizarding chess as one of the pieces, watching as one of my friends at the time was almost killed sacrificing himself. And those are just the worst of it.

"Second year: attacked and petrified by a basilisk. Do you know what it's like to be petrified? Muggles call it locked in syndrome, you can think and feel, but you can't move or talk. It's terrifying.

"Third year: attacked by dementors several times and then attacked by a werewolf without his wolvesbane. Then by a fucking lying rat named Peter Pettigrew, who killed thirteen muggles, framed Sirius for his death, and betrayed Lily and James Potter.

"Fourth year was spent running around trying to keep Harry alive and then my friend Cedric was killed in the tournament. The tournament that Dumbledore the great idiot decided would be a good idea even though he knew Harry's name would likely be put into the cup.

"Fifth year we had the toad running around and scarring people with a blood quill. Have you ever written with a blood quill? No, well it fucking hurts. 'I will respect my betters' is now scarred into my hand. Then I almost died in the department of mysteries when Antonin Dolohov sent an unknown curse at me.

"Sixth year I spent grieving for my lost parents, whom I had to Obliviate all memories of me from to keep them safe, only to have them die in a plane crash on the way to Australia. And also consoling Harry after Sirius almost died.

"Then finally what was supposed to be my seventh year was spent with little or no food, camping on the forest of dean, killing little pieces of Voldemort's soul. Did you know he had horcruxes? Yeah by the look on your face I would say no, well he had seven. I helped kill and find them all. As well as the final battle where all the people I love almost died several times over.

"Still not enough? Well I guess there was also the time I was tortured in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor by Bellatrix. Yeah about 40 minutes under her cruciatus curse, almost raped by Greyback and three others, only to be saved by Lucius Malfoy, and handed back to good old Bella, who by the way carved this into my arm and stabbed me twice. Harry and Ron didn't even notice the wounds, they only know about the cruciatus. Add to that breaking into Gringotts and flying out on a dragon and jumping off, when you're terrified of heights.

"So yeah, I don't trust easily and trust me any chance for you being trusted has been lost. You need to show trust to earn it. As you can see I do have plenty of nightmare material, now I'm sure I should say nice to meet you and leave gracefully, but I'm not a big enough person. Thus my goodbye, I hope you have a terrible day, and I will see you at the wedding, if you decide to come with all the scum around." Hermione rose gracefully and took Oliver's offered hand. They walked to the floo and went to the Wood Summer Home.


	15. The Proposal and The Job

**If you recognize it, it's not mine**

"I'm so sorry Mia, I had no clue they would act like that. I told them to not pay attention to the articles, that it wasn't you, I guess they ignored me. I know I should've stuck up for you but..."

"They're your parents. I get it Ollie, just don't ask me to trust them or go to tea and play dates with them." He laughed at her request and they walked out to the rose gardens. Hermione had noticed that Oliver was acting strangely, and now she knew why. In the spot they usually sat there was a blanket set up, with a small bouquet of purple roses in the center, and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries. He walked over picked up the flowers and gave them to her, she smiled.

After sitting down they started talking about all she revealed and she explained, in more detail, about everything. She was pleasantly surprised by his sympathetic but not pitying gaze.

"Hey, why don't we play 10 questions again only in rapid fire, no explanations just answer as fast as possible?" Oliver asked. She agreed and she started.

"Favorite alcoholic drink?"

"Rum and Coke. Favorite memory?"

"Baking cookies with my mom when I was a kid. If you could do anything what would it be?"

"Go and punch Ronald. Favorite non-alcoholic drink?"

"Coffee, French Vanilla. Favorite painting wizard or muggle?"

"Starry Night. Favorite ghost?"

"Peeves. If you could have one of the deathly hallows which would it be?"

"Honestly, none, more trouble then they're worth. Favorite book?"

"Alice in Wonderland by Carol Lewis. Favorite animal?"

"Phoenix. Will you accept the title of being my wife?" Oliver had got her ring out while he was asking and now held the box in his hands. "I know you have to marry me, but honestly I would rather marry you on my own, by my own terms. So I am asking you if you will marry me even if the law is repealed tomorrow."

"Yes, I will, after all you are the first one to ever break my defenses. Honestly, I think I'm in love with you and that scares me. I mean can you love someone after only really knowing them for a month?"

"I think you can. Now why don't you take this, after all it is yours. I hope you like it..." He opened the box and Hermione gasped. The ring was beautiful. Oliver slid it on her finger and she held it up to inspect it.

The ring he got her was white gold, knowing she would never accept silver, with a carved rose as the setting, and little leafs and vines carved into the band. The four leafs were all diamond encrusted. The center of the rose held a beautifully cut purple amethyst. She knew amethyst represented calm, peace, patience, and spirit. The ring was perfect for her, intricate, but not flashy, yet still beautiful. Hermione jumped on Oliver and hugged him tight. When she let go she kissed him on the lips gently, and pulled all the way back smiling.

"Thank you so much, it's beautiful."

"Then it matches its owner." He told her cheekily.

"Nice one, is that what this relationship will be? Cheesy pick-up lines?"

"Yup, just remember you've chosen me now!" He smirked at her and she groaned. "By the way, I love you, too." He told her softly, pulling her to him again. This kiss was different from the others they shared. It was long and lingering, soft and full of promises for the future. It made her feel alive for the first time since the war; it was just what she needed. When he pulled back, they sat, and began talking again, Hermione remembered what she wanted to do today in the first place.

"Oliver, can I ask you a question and you answer me honestly?"

"Of course, what's up?"

"Nothing bad, it's just... I was offered a job, one that I want to take. Problem is I don't want to step on any toes, yours in particular."

"What is the job Mia? I promise you won't be stepping on my toes."

"Coach Mills asked me to come onto the team and be your strategist; you know create plays and such. I want to take it because it offers a complicated job with calculations, where I can still be creative, and still help Fred, George, and Sev. Plus it won't bore me, but I don't want to intrude on your job so I want to know what you think before I give an answer."

"When did he offer you this job?" Oliver didn't seem angry just genuinely curious, Hermione briefly thought about the repercussions of telling him this close to their genuine proposal but he needed to know.

"The day of the attack. I found a play he made and pointed out a flaw and how he could fix it. I didn't want to stress you that close to the game especially when I wouldn't start until after it anyways. Then he offered me a job while you were practicing after lunch and I told him I would talk to you first and think about it. So... what do you think?"

"I think that if it would make you happy you should take it. Honestly I don't mind working with you, I would get to see you more. Plus maybe you could help us win the cup this year over the Appleby Arrows." She chuckled and thanked him. She then explained her notes and the idea she had from the game. He gave pointers where he could and promised her he would help her as far as fouls and rules went.

After eating all the strawberries and picking up the bouquet, Oliver walked with her to the floo.

"Hey, the properties should be ready soon, I was thinking we could go on Wednesday, what do you think? I got this week off for winning my first game as captain."

"Wednesday sounds good; I might be going dress shopping with the other brides and Tonks tomorrow. Why don't you and I meet on Tuesday to discuss the wedding, I still want a small simple one, but we still have to plan it all."

"Sounds perfect, umm maybe you should just charge anything for the wedding to my Gringotts account and when we go for the 'house hunting' I can add you to the account. For now I can send you a key though."

"What, no it's fine I can buy my own dress. Plus it's your money; don't just give it to me."

"Mia, we're getting married it will be yours too. I trust you not to just spend it all on things we don't need, like countless salon appointments." She chuckled and reluctantly agreed. Oliver sent her through the floo and she went in search of the boys, finding 7 unopened letters on the table all for her.

"Looks like I'm going dress shopping tomorrow." She said after reading all seven affirmative answers, and as expected Tonks asked her to be her matron of honor. She of course sent an affirmative answer and then just decided to go to bed; she would see the boys around midnight anyways.


	16. Wedding Dresses

**If you recognize it, it's not mine. Sorry about this chapter, I know it's not very good and could've been longer. It's mostly just a filler of sorts.**

The next morning Hermione woke early and snuck out of her room around the twins who had stayed in bed with her last night. She made breakfast in her pajamas and woke the house. As they ate she went and got ready for the day. She showered, shaved, and dressed. It was a nice day out but still late September so she wore a black knee length skirt, a green tank top and a white jumper. She slid on her low cut converse and charmed them the same green as her shirt.

When she arrived downstairs she saw Tonks sitting on the floor in front of the floo and Sirius laughing his arse off. Hermione went over and helped her up while drenching Sirius in ice water. The other brides followed shortly after and they all sat as Sirius excused himself, saying he didn't want the girl to rub off on him.

"So I guess we should figure out where we want to go." Hermione stated.

"Muggle London, maybe? All the dress shops around here will be crowded and over worked, they will never have a dress done in time for Tonks' wedding." Julia suggested.

"That's a good idea." Mary told them, just as Severus walked into the room mumbling to himself.

"Oh, hey Sev, we were just leaving." Hermione caught his attention; he looked at her and nodded. She rolled her eyes and walked over to him. She stole the journal he was writing in and read the page. She took his pen and wrote something down, then handed both back. He read it and smiled.

"You perfect insufferable know it all!" he told her. "Thank you so much this is perfect, I'm going to try it, have fun doing girl stuff."

"What is it with you men that think you can call it girl stuff and act all affronted?" Tonks cut in.

"Sirius?" she nodded. "You fell out the floo again didn't you?" She blushed and he laughed. "We're men, we are designed to be stupid when it comes to women, and then again you don't make it any easier." Severus chuckled and went back to is lab.

After that the group left and headed into muggle London for dress shopping. Throughout the day Hermione got to know all the other brides. She found that Kathy, Tonks, and Sarafina were the only extroverts. All the others seemed to hit the jackpot for dresses and brides maid dresses except Hermione. As they entered the last shop of the day and started looking for a dress Hermione found one.

It was a cream color, knee length, and had long lace sleeves that would cover her scar. It had an empire waist the ended with her ribcage in a golden band, while the bottom half was flowing and had several layers of sheer material. It was modest as the lace from the sleeves would cover her chest until her collarbone. Her being a 17 year old bride it was perfect. She was never one to try and be a princess so it wasn't elegant in that way, but it certainly showed her personality.

The others all went home after that, while Tonks went home with her. Tonks sat at the table talking with Hermione as she cooked dinner for the entire house and Tonks.

"Hey, Tonks? You know I don't have any female friends and I was just wondering if you would mind being my maid of honor."

"Mind? Are you kidding me? I wouldn't mind I would love to!"

"Did I tell you Oliver proposed for real? As in if the law gets repealed tomorrow we would still marry?"

"No, you didn't! Oh my gods, that is so romantic!"

"What's romantic?" The boys all chorused filing in and sitting at the table.

"Oliver proposed for real. So even if they throw out the law the two of them would still get married."

"Well, with the ring he bought her I'm not surprised he loves her. That is one of the most thoughtful things I've ever seen given as a gift. I mean he even asked all of us what we thought of it and if you'd like it." Severus spoke.

"He did?" Hermione asked looking at her ring with great fondness and a hint of love. "Do you guys think it's weird that I love him after only knowing him a month?" They were split down the middle of yes' and no's.

"Weird yes, surprising yes, impossible no." Fred told her. "I think we're all falling for our matches. After all we are all matched to the closest things we have to soul mates." Hermione thought that made sense and served dinner.

Her wedding was in less than two months, and she was moving in two weeks at the latest. To top it all off she got to see Oliver tomorrow and the next day. She still hadn't told anybody what happened at Wood Manor but she promised herself she would. What was it with her and Manors in which bad things always happen?


	17. Wedding Plans and Strange Occurrences

**If you recognize it, it's not mine.**

The next day Oliver showed up at Grimmauld around 2pm to plan the wedding. Hermione and Tonks were sitting at the table smiling and laughing when he entered. He walked over to her and kissed her cheek.

"Hello Mia, Tonks." He greeted, Hermione blushed, and Tonks smiled at the small show of affection.

"Wotcher Oliver, you ready to plan a wedding? A bunch of girly time for you might do ya some good." He chuckled and nodded.

"Let's just start, shall we? For starters your best man will be..."

"Stephen Jones, do I need anymore or is one enough?"

"One's good, Tonks is my only one. Now we know the date, so now we need someone to officiate... how about Kingsley or Percy?"

"I think Percy, Kingsley is nice but I feel closer to Percy after going to school with him." She nodded and Tonks went to owl him.

"Okay next is food and colors. Tonks how did you get through this? It's so boring!" Hermione complained Tonks just laughed.

"I've been planning it since the day the letters were sent before the matches." Hermione groaned, just realizing that was an option, making Tonks laugh harder.

"Okay so colors, I was thinking blue and purple. I don't want to go all lovey dovey with red and crap like that just because it's February."

"I like it, but I'm a guy so I might not be the best judge." Tonks nodded.

"Yes but for once you've got it right, it's a wonderful combination. What color and style do you want my dress?"

"Umm, maybe a purple, sweetheart neckline, knee length, with capped sleeves for you and Stephen can wear blue?"

"Sounds good, do you want us in muggle or wizarding robes?"

"Muggle; wizarding ones are just plain weird. So, a blue tie and a grey or black suit." He nodded and she continued. "As for food I think I would like to cook it myself, you know to calm myself. It's not going to be a huge wedding anyways..."

"No you are not cooking for your own wedding. Now I knew you would recommend it and leave this until later so as soon as we all picked dates I called the best catering company ever and booked her for those two days, now all you need is the menu; she also does cake so there's that too." Tonks cut in. Hermione grumbled but conceded.

"Well I don't know what I'm going to want to eat that day, so how about buffet style?" Oliver nodded. "Okay and for the cake how about vanilla with strawberry filling and blueberry frosting?"

"Sounds good to me, now what?"

"Colin can be the photographer, so next is guest list. Then I think that's it for now."

"Well, I would like to invite my parents, as the only close family I have, and the team, maybe a few old professors and Bill?"

"Perfect, everyone in this house, Harry, Luna, Bill, and the Hogwarts staff, that includes Neville and his fiancée Hannah."

"Wow, you two are flying through this, it's only taken you like two hours."

"What time is it?"

"3:30 why?"

"Well you just moved in so you wouldn't know yet, but I usually start dinner right now and have it on the table by the time they all get here while dessert is either cooking or cooling. Oliver do you want to stay for dinner?"

"Sure, I've got nothing better to do."

"Hey you two Percy owled back and accepted to officiate your wedding. I'm going to go take a shower before dinner, I feel all icky from moving this morning." Hermione laughed at her as she left the room.

"Mia? We need to move in together soon. I know we are looking tomorrow, but if we choose one tomorrow would you be against moving in within the week?"

"Absolutely not, I just need to be sure to say my final goodbyes to the boys. So you said you had so many properties can you name them all, tell me about them a little?" Oliver grinned and nodded.

"But, of course I can, you should know I haven't been to all of them either so I am in no way biased. I'm only going to name the permanent residences but there are also vacation homes, we can talk about those later. I will start with Scotland as it's the least likely; we have Wood Chateau, and Wood Casita. In Ireland: Wood Farmhouse, Wood Cottage, and Wood Villa. In England we have: Wood Apartments (we own the building so it's really the penthouse) and Wood Condominium. Also Wood Manor, but we are not living with my parents."

"Hmm, I like the fact that most of these don't sound like mansions or castles. I like the sound of the farmhouse, villa, casita, and condominium."

"I've never been to three of them so maybe. The villa is nice, but not very homey. It's more for show than anything else, it's huge." She frowned, and stirred the pot of sauce she had on the stove. Tonight was baked penne Alfredo with salad for supper. For dessert she was going to make brigadeiro, a Brazilian chocolate truffle.

They all ate and talked for hours after the boys got home. The topics ranged from quidditch to Hermione's nightmares and everything in between. Tonks was appalled by what happened but got over it pretty quickly. Oliver asked Hermione quietly if they knew everything she blurted out to his mother and coincidentally him. She told him she didn't want to tarnish their view on Harry and lied when she had nightmares brought on by his wrong doing. By the time Oliver was going to leave Hermione was asleep on his shoulder.

"Oliver, why don't you stay here tonight that way you can learn how to handle her after her nightmares? You can watch us and see how with Tonks."

"Okay, sure we are going to the other properties tomorrow anyways." Sirius smiled and took Hermione up to her room, while Remus showed Oliver to his. At 2am Oliver woke to Hermione's screams. He knew they were coming but they still hurt him in a way he hadn't expected. It didn't just hurt him mentally or emotionally, but physically. He got up to leave the room and caught the time, 2:23am. It caused him to stop for a second before continuing.

Truth was Oliver had been a bit of an insomniac the past few months. Problem was he always woke around 1 or 2am and got back to sleep either within an hour or not at all. He could never understand it, but he was beginning to. _Could it be connected to Hermione somehow? No that's stupid._

All was forgotten when he arrived at her doorway. Hermione was crying and that hurt him as well. Now that he thought of it when he awoke it usually hurt in small pulses just like this, only weaker. He discarded that thought and watched taking mental notes on how they calmed her. After she fell back to sleep all of them quietly left the room, except one of them, and shut the door.

"It usually helps her stay asleep if there's another person with her. Not much but a little, she can at least fall back to sleep for a little bit but it's restless." Charlie explained, Oliver nodded sadly and went back to his room. He knew he wouldn't sleep again tonight but he didn't want to expose his secret yet; he needed to talk to Hermione about this soon. Honestly he didn't know why he hadn't made the connection before, she had explained her nightmares but it had never clicked.

 _It is far too early for this. I really need to talk to Hermione in the comforts of my own home, where we won't be interrupted or monitored._ Oliver wasn't stupid or unobservant; he knew as much as she loved them her family was very protective. It made talking about things like this difficult. He would talk to her soon though.


	18. Wood Properties

**If you recognize it, it's not mine**

The next morning Oliver and Hermione were the first up; she seemed surprised to see him in the kitchen so early, apparently all the others were late risers. Honestly Oliver had been until he started playing quidditch professionally just before the war started; that changed quickly. The two of them looked equally tired, for a second Hermione wondered why he looked so tired, but lost it as soon as he asked her if he could help with anything.

"Do you cook?" she asked realizing she really didn't know all that much about him in the grand scheme of things.

"Sometimes, I have lived on my own for the past few years, had to learn sometime."

"Better than any of them then. Sure, why are you so tired I figured you would go back to sleep after the great awakening." He chuckled.

"We need to talk and when we do that question will be answered, hopefully... it may be one of those situations where all it does is causes more questions. We can talk after we choose a place and you move in and we visit Gringotts; deal?" she looked a little confused but nodded.

"So where are we going first today?"

"The least likely places you'll want to live first, so the chateau, etcetera. Then to the cottage, then the places I think you will like the most, and the places I haven't at least seen picture of. The question is do you want to go to Gringotts first or last?"

"I think first; by the end of the day, after apparating all over, I won't feel like going." She smiled, he laughed, and they continued with breakfast. He had seen the spread before but it got him every time. She really was living with children and Severus, even with Tonks it was all sugar. Surprisingly Oliver had the same breakfast order as Hermione, only black coffee instead of French vanilla.

After breakfast the two flooed to Diagon ally and walked to Gringotts. The goblins were actually almost pleasant towards them while he added her to the account. He got the paper work taken care of and gave Hermione her own key. They went to the apparition point and he took her hand.

"Now remember, as soon as you know you won't live there tell me and we won't waste time looking around; just tell the elves of the property and carry on." She nodded and they apparated. "Welcome to Wood Chateau."

The house, if you could call it that, was huge. It was placed on an island and took up almost the whole thing. Honestly it was a small castle. Hermione immediately shook her head and refused to even enter it. Oliver was laughing at her while he told the elves; he also reminded them they could always work at the manor or wherever they ended up. It seemed to cheer them up.

He walked over to her and took her arm then apparated to the next residence.

"Welcome, Mia, to Wood Condominium." This one was slightly better but just slightly. It was also way too big and a little run down, she agreed to meet the elves this time. However she was constantly looking around like it was going to cave in, so Oliver made it quick.

"You know Ollie; I really don't know why you're taking me to these ones."

"Never know you might like one. Now the next one is a small one and I think that will be the deal breaker." He apparated them and she gasped. "Welcome to Wood Casita."

The scenery was beautiful. The casita was on a lakeside and had a porch over looking it. That however was the only part about it she liked. Inside was almost as run down as the last one only this place was a one bed, one bath, and had a tiny kitchen. It just felt wrong, especially for kids with the lake right outside the door.

"Not this one either I take it?" she shook her head again and he apparated them, no questions asked. "This is Wood Villa..." he trailed off as she shook her head. It was a beautiful property but it was almost as daunting as Malfoy Manor in miniature. "The cottage is next, though I doubt it will be the one; it is quite nice for two to live. Not big enough for kids though, or large gatherings. I have a feeling we will be hosting a few of those a week." He grinned at her as she nodded. When they got there it was indeed nice for two, but also quite small. It was a brown, brick, one story building with a small lawn and no room for gardens or roses. Plus the kitchen was small; it was closer to what she wanted though.

"These are the Wood Apartments. We would be living in the penthouse so let's go on up, shall we?" Hermione nodded if at all reluctantly.

"I wish it had a lawn of some kind." She said as they entered, she looked around as Oliver talked to the elf. He had lived here for a time before joining Puddlemere United and knew the layout well enough. Hermione didn't like it. It was quite noisy from the street outside, plus it just didn't feel right. She didn't say as such to Oliver, there was only one property left after all and if it was worse this was the most likely candidate.

"Finally we are going to Wood Farmhouse. Now I've never been before and I also have never seen it, all I know is this is the property with a library. The manor had one but mother moved it here." Hermione's eyes lit up excitedly at the prospect of books. And she grasped his arm for apparition. Wood Farmhouse was amazing; to say the least.

It had a huge yard and metal fences surrounding the property were the wards were. The house itself was not huge, but it wasn't small either. It was quiet and peaceful, and there were rose gardens on the edge of the property. The house was made of rectangular stones and had a black roof and green overhangs. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. With hardwood floors and creme walls she could change when they moved in, plenty of light and it was already furnished. The colors and style would of course be changed through charms and transfiguration but still, it was perfect. It did indeed have a library and a marvelous kitchen.

It was two stories, had 5 beds, 3 baths, a den, the library, and 4 empty rooms. Hermione was in heaven and Oliver looked amazed as well.

"This is it, this is the one." Hermione said in awe.

"Agreed, when do you want to move in?"

"Now... but not really; how about tomorrow or the next day?"

"Probably both, how about tomorrow we can paint and transfigure everything, get anything else you want for the place and the next day we move our things in. Then on Saturday we can unpack everything and rearrange. Sunday we can have everyone over for dinner or something." Oliver suggested "Then Monday I go back to work and you start, you sent the coach an owl right?"

"Yes I did and that sounds perfect. That reminds me I need to sign like seven different contracts to be officially hired. Coach said I can run things on Tuesday so I can get any other information I need to make plays. On Monday you're running through the play I fixed during your last game." Oliver smiled.

"Why don't we go to your place have some dinner with the others and then I will go home so you can read and sign the contracts. Tomorrow I will come over and pick you up then we do the stuff here, deal?" She nodded and he took her home.


	19. Moving Day

**If you recognize it, it's not mine.**

After dinner Oliver went home and to bed, Hermione did the same at Grimmauld. They both woke around 2am Hermione with a nightmare and Oliver with no known reason whatsoever. Neither got back to sleep. Oliver did as he told her he would and met her at Grimmauld at 10am. They headed to Wood Farmhouse. Both wore comfortable clothing for decorating, even by magic it could still get messy. They sat on an orange couch in the den and started to discus everything.

"I think we should do it room by room. I can do the transfiguration of the furniture and you can charm everything."

"Good, I suck at transfiguration. Let's start upstairs and we need to decide what to do with the empty rooms. We have four so any idea is a good one." He told her walking with her up the staircase. "How about a study for you?" he suggested she nodded while inspecting the master bedroom, the farthest room from the stairs at the end of the hallway.

"Sounds good and I think a TV room for one of them. I think we should leave the hallways and entrance areas creme or beige. Now I know you like blue and I think it is calming so how about this room becomes a nice grey-blue; like the color of a stormy sky?" he nodded and changed it, she smiled and transfigured the bed into a four poster, king size, with deep blue silk sheets, and a soft grey comforter. The two chairs in the room became navy blue with grey throw pillows. She turned and left the room.

"There is also an empty one right next to the master, we could leave all the other bed rooms as guest beds or children rooms, make this one a nursery, and then a play room. Of course we will have to wait until I'm pregnant before we decorate it but I think it will be for the best."

"That's a good idea; the other rooms are a bit big for a nursery. We can make all the guest bedrooms identical except for the color."

"Perfect let's look in one and figure it out." They entered the one across from the nursery and took inventory. It had a double bed, a desk, and a comfy chair. "We have like 4 guest rooms right?" he nodded "Good, they can be in lavender, red, brown, and green. Get to work, I will make sure they are identical; might as well do them all at once. The other three are downstairs right?"

"Yup, upstairs is one guest room, master bedroom, two empty rooms; well one now. Would you like the other room up here as your study?"

"No, I want it to be the one closest to the library; maybe this one can be the TV room or whatever the other idea will be." She told him while walking into the next guest room and transfiguring everything. He charmed the walls as she left and they did this for the other two rooms as well. He walked her to the library and she charmed all the small stools into huge wing backed armrests. They left without any other changes and went to the room that would be her study.

"I think dark purple for those three walls and yellow for that one. We will need to buy a desk, but this chair is perfect." She told him while charming the rocking chair into a brown leather spinning desk chair.

They continued like this for the rest of the house. The den was painted light brown and had black furnishings (an L shaped couch, three armchairs, and a few side tables). Hermione made mental notes every once in a while that she needed to add paintings or pictures on the walls to make it more homey. All the bathrooms were painted in a soft blue, the nursery was painted in two crème walls and two dark brown. Now all they had was two empty rooms and one idea. They sat in the living room to discuss what to put in the other empty room so they knew what to put in which room.

"I think maybe a potions lab or something, that way you can help the twins and Severus from here still."

"Are you sure? Maybe you could think of something for one of the rooms, you need to have your own space too."

"I can make a quidditch pitch outside and you probably won't go near it, I think I'm safe."

"Fine then, the potions lab downstairs and the TV room upstairs." She said and then marched up the stairs. "How about dark red on three walls, and black on the one where the TV will go." She told him transfiguring the small ottoman in the room into another black, leather, L shaped couch. He did as he was instructed and they went to do the potions lab. He painted it white as instructed and she transfigured a long workbench and two stools out of the end table and dining chairs that resided in the room. They sat on the stools and made a game plan.

"So, tomorrow we can go to muggle London and Diagon Ally to get everything we need, and then we can bring our stuff over and unpack a few things we need. The next day finish all the unpacking and decorating, then on Sunday a 14 person dinner."

"Perfect, I can pack tonight and be ready at about noon tomorrow. Sound good?" He nodded and escorted her home.

That night was much like all the others. Over the next few days Oliver and Hermione finished moving in and such. Surprisingly she hadn't had any nightmares since that first awkward night when they started sharing a bed, Oliver also got a good few nights rest.

Tomorrow was family dinner and Hermione just hoped her family liked her house and that the Woods didn't say anything too horrible when they arrived. It certainly would be interesting seeing as how neither knew the other was coming and neither wanted to meet the other. _Oh joy_ they both thought.


	20. Family Dinner

**If you recognize it, it's not mine**

Hermione was now used to her new life, her and Oliver seemed to work perfectly together. Today however was the big family dinner. They had no clue when people would be getting there, or rather what order. They knew nobody from Hermione's guests would be in large groupings really, just pairs.

Hermione put dinner into the oven and dessert in the other one, for dinner they were having lasagna and salad, for dessert biscotti and coffee. That is when Charlie and Tonks showed up, the first to arrive.

"Whoa, this place is sick!" Tonks said

"You need to stop watching TV. Sorry if we're early Tonks was bursting at the seams and practically dragged me here."

"It's fine, you're the first here. That's actually probably for the best you and Remus are the most level headed but his wolf comes out from time to time. Oliver's parents are coming, please help us keep all the others from exploding?"

"I don't like it but fine." Charlie agreed, Tonks however looked suspicious and mutinous.

"You might want to start with Tonks..." Oliver entered the conversation, Tonks calmed when Charlie put his arm around her shoulders. The next through the floo was Oliver's parents as expected they came early to inspect the house.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Wood." Hermione greeted politely before going back to her conversation with Tonks about a new case.

"Mom, Dad, have a seat. We're just waiting for the rest of our guests then we will be eating outside in the rose gardens."

"Other guests?" Oliver's mom asked. Before Oliver could answer Sirius and Mary exited the floo. Hermione got up and hugged him; she hadn't seen him since the day before she left to move in because he was on assignment. Sirius laughed and Mary giggled slightly.

"Wow Hermione, you really act like his daughter." Mary told her when they separated. They all sat ignoring the protesting elder Woods and Oliver trying unsuccessfully to placate them when they realized all Hermione's roommates were coming. The floo lit and out stepped Remus and Julia. Hermione smiled and moved to the floor knowing the full moon was coming and Remus would need the chair. He sat and squeezed her shoulder affectionately.

"Thank you Kitten, my back has been killing me from walking around Hogsmead all day yesterday." She smiled and patted his knee. Severus stepped out of the floo with Annabella. He got the same treatment as Sirius as she didn't get to see him much the week before she left. He looked slightly uncomfortable when he saw the Woods, but hugged her back regardless.

"You know Sev is like my father as well. Does that mean that Sirius and Sev had a love child?" Hermione asked innocently.

"NO!" they both shouted, everyone including Oliver laughed at their grossed out expressions.

"I knew nobody could be that perfect! It must be your secret skeleton; I mean seriously you need to have something." Anna said exasperation clear in her voice.

"No, I did not have a love child with the mutt, nor will I ever. The thought alone is repulsive."

"Just like you, huh, Sevsev?" Charlie joked; all it received was a glare and him getting pushed out of his chair and Severus sitting in it. The floo flared up again and Fred and Kathy then George and Sarafina entered the room. They looked around and sat on the spot they were standing pulling their fiancés with them.

A timer went off and Hermione ran to the kitchen. She took dinner out of the oven and checked on dessert, it was almost ready. She called dinner and they all made their way to the table in the garden. Oliver's parents were silent and looked slightly scared and intimidated. Hermione served dinner and left to take dessert out of the oven to cool before returning and eating.

They ate in mostly awkward silence not knowing what subjects would be okay and what would be taboo. Hermione couldn't stand it anymore; apparently Oliver couldn't either so he spoke.

"Hey, how much does a polar bear weigh?" He asked; everyone gave him a strange look except Hermione who was grateful for the people asking why or guessing. "Oh I know now... it weighs just enough to break the ice." The table was half groans and face palms and half laughs.

"That was a terrible joke Ollie." Hermione told him.

"Really this coming from you, Mia."

"My jokes are amazing!"

"No they aren't" Severus cut in.

"Shut it Sev. I can still come see you when I have a nightmare and drench you in ice water." He just looked at her with concern.

"How are the nightmares?" Remus asked.

"Actually I haven't had one since I got here. I don't really understand it, but I'm not complaining either; especially with me starting my job on Monday."

"You have an actual job now? And what would that be?" Mrs. Wood asked in a snobbish tone.

"I'm the new play maker, strategist, and assistant coach for Puddlemere United."

"What?!" Mr. Wood exclaimed.

"You heard her Dad."

"But, I didn't think you even liked quidditch. Do you even like quidditch?"

"I never used to, but that changed a little after Hogwarts. I still think it shouldn't be the only topic of conversation, but it is quite interesting in its arrhythmic properties that mix with muggle physics."

"What do you mean; it's a sport not math?"

"Actually the plays are math; complex calculations that allow certain players to do certain things to get the overall movements and result in a score or a win." Mr. Wood was shocked into silence and conversation turned to the joke shop.

That night, after everyone was gone, the two residents of the house called the night a success. They sat on the couch snogging for a little while before going to bed in preparation for tomorrow. They had become more comfortable with each other in the past few days and could now be caught snogging at all hours of their free time. Neither was complaining about this new development.


	21. New Jobs

**If you recognize it, it's not mine.**

The next morning they both woke at 5am and got out of bed. Oliver was looking forward to going back to work after his week-long break, whereas Hermione was an anxious mess. She knew she was just watching today, but tomorrow she had to take the lead and she wasn't looking forward to it. They didn't need to go until 6:30am so Hermione decided to go for a run, something she did sometimes when she was nervous, or upset, or any negative emotion really.

The two left at 6:30 on the dot. They tumbled out of the floo on the other side, well Hermione did. Oliver was laughing at her and helping her up when the team rounded the corner quietly, intent on seeing _the_ Oliver Wood laugh at 6 in the morning. Hermione stood and punched him in the arm making him laugh harder.

"Stop it you git. It's not my fault you wizards decided traveling by fireplace was such a grand idea." She huffed and crossed her arms mumbling about stupid purebloods. He finally got himself under control.

"Mia, you've lived here for what, 6 years? You need to learn how to floo properly."

"Yeah and of those six years I was petrified for one and unable to floo for months during another." He bowed to her and offered his arm. She laughed and took it. They approached the team that was watching them.

"Hello boys" Hermione spoke, they all gave their greetings, and the coach walked over.

"Ah, Hermione perfect timing on my part. Team you all know Hermione, well you're about to get to know her more so get used to her being around." Mills said cryptically while walking away and into the coach's box.

"What does that mean?" Stephen Jones asked his friend.

"Mia is the new assistant coach and team strategist." Oliver told them, all the shocked faces turned to her.

"Today I'm just observing your skills and such, tomorrow I'm running the practice so I can get all the other variables I need and put what I have to the test." The team smiled slightly and they all went into the coach's box. Hermione stood by the coach when he beckoned her.

"Okay, I want you all to do the play I showed you on Saturday, Wood you just need to sit pretty in the hoops and stop everything." The coach smiled and Oliver chuckled a little when the team grinned. They all thought he'd never seen the play when, as captain, he got to approve them all and, with Hermione, help make them.

The team practiced for 10 and a half hours that day with only half an hour of that for lunch. When the day was done Hermione had everything she needed and had figured out which players were who. She did have a cheat sheet though, with their numbers and names written down the side of a page. Hermione was also armed with a plan for tomorrow, and no matter how much Oliver bugged she wouldn't tell him, or Coach Mills.

Hermione and Oliver made dinner and sat at the bar in the kitchen. They discussed things for the wedding for a time until an owl tapped at the window. Oliver went to get up to let it in, but Hermione pushed him into his seat and did it herself.

"You know I am capable of opening a window right?"

"You just finished a 10 hour practice and were complaining that you were tired all through making dinner, so you are staying seated." She told him opening the window and letting Sirius' owl in. Hermione took the letter and gave the owl a treat. She sat with Oliver knowing they wanted a reply, and read the she paled as she read and dropped the note in shock Oliver took it and read the note over.

 _Kitten,_

 _They want us all at the burrow on the day before Charlie's wedding as an engagement party of sorts. We need to go, Harry blackmailed me, but they invited all of us. That includes fiancés. I don't really understand why, but still you and Oliver should be there. Oh by the way how was work today?_

 _Yours,_

 _Siri._

Oliver knew what had happened the last few times Hermione went to the burrow and almost just said they couldn't go. He soon thought better though and wrapped his fiancé in a hug and just held her for a few moments before speaking.

"Mia, we really should go. I know you don't want to and I don't either but Harry and Luna will be there. So will the rest of your family. Don't you want to see them all; and Bill and Percy?" he asked, at her nod he let her go, wrote and sent a letter to Sirius, and got up taking her with him. He walked them to the library sending a charm back at the dishes to clean themselves. Oliver sat and just held her in his lap for hours until her breathing evened out. She was asleep and he brought her up to bed, transfiguring her clothing into pajamas like the ones she usually wore, he crawled into bed with her and held her through the night.

Oliver still hadn't brought up the nightmare thing to Hermione and figured he would later. Definitely before their wedding, hopefully she would know what it meant.

The next morning went much as the day before had. Hermione woke, ate, ran, and fell out of the floo on the other end. Only this time the whole team and the coach were there laughing. Hermione grumbled and stood; one glare and all laughing ceased. After all her temper wasn't known for nothing, and they'd all seen what she did to the dummy after being attacked. The team went into the coach's box and Mills handed the reins over to Hermione as he sat back and looked over a play idea she had.

"Okay so today I want to figure out some of your stats that aren't necessarily broadcasted through the network or might not seem important. To start I want you all to reach your maximum speeds and hold it for as long as possible. We will start with the reserves and we will go one at a time." They did just that, she went through the whole team and surprisingly Oliver was the fastest flyer from the get go but couldn't hold it very long; he was better for bursts of speed. Dan Ajax, the seeker, was second fastest and could hold it for 5 minutes before he started to slow down. The rest were around the same speed and could hold it for a good amount of time, around 15 minutes. This was perfect and just what she had predicted. The whole exercise was done in 2 hours.

"Okay now I want to see how compact you can be on your brooms, that way I can see who can fly between players the best. So I'm going to conjure and levitate some blocks with different sized holes for you to fly through. Oliver and Carlos this isn't really something you need to do but you still can if you want." She told them conjuring big red blocks with different sized holes in them for the players to fly through.

"I think I might sit this one out." Carlos said looking at the multitude of boxes and the smallest hole; Oliver nodded. Keepers were, after all, traditionally tall and both of them were over 6 feet and the small hole was slightly daunting. They finished that with only a few people falling and a lot of laughing from the keepers.

"Okay one more test and that's it for me. I want to see how fast you can turn and stop. This should help me when I'm designing and finalizing certain aspects of the play the coach is looking at right now." They all seemed quite fast at the whole turning and stopping thing. Some were quicker than others, but that was to be expected. Oliver excelled at both and Hermione had the distinct feeling he could play any of the positions if asked. After practice was over for the day they were the last two there with the coach who just wanted to give them an updated game schedule for the year.

"Hey Ollie, how many of the positions can you play aside from keeper?"

"All of them technically; seeker is my worst and keeper is my best. But I'm a pretty fair beater and chaser if need be. I like to keep all my skills sharp and I think if we ever had an accident where we lost both reserve and first string it would be a good thing someone else could take their place while Carlos took mine." She nodded.

"Do any of the other players know how to play the other roles?" he shook his head, and she grinned. "You know you were the best at almost everything except holding your speed, but you surpassed everyone else by a landslide. If they could all play the other positions do you think they could refine their other skills?"

"You might be onto something there Mia. Maybe we should speak to coach about it tomorrow. It might take a few more practices before he agrees though." Oliver warned

"But it could help us win." Hermione said firmly before going through the floo and Oliver following her and helping her off the floor, again.


	22. The Burrow for Dinner

**If you recognize it it's not mine.**

It was a week before the coach agreed to use the new idea of training them all in the other positions. His only condition is they had to figure out how to coach them and he gave them all next week to do it. It was Saturday night, the night before Charlie and Tonks were getting married.

Oliver and Hermione had just gotten home after a particularly taxing day. Hermione had been stuck trying to figure out a complicated calculation all day and Oliver had taken a stray bludger to the broom when he wasn't on that station and didn't think he had to watch for them; it had broken his broom and he fell to the ground and dislocated his shoulder. He was forced to sit out of the rest of practice and had to relocate his shoulder quite painfully.

When they got home they were in no mood for the dinner or the drama at the burrow. However it seemed they had no choice in the matter. They showered and Hermione helped Oliver get his shirt on since his shoulder still hurt quite badly. Hermione was wearing a navy blue dress, with black stockings, brown knee boots, a white cardigan, and she had her hair charmed straight. Oliver was wearing black jeans, a red button up shirt, and a pair of grey converse.

They arrived at the Burrow 5 minutes late and everyone was waiting in the back yard for them; well everyone except the youngest Weasleys and there betrothed who still hadn't arrived. Hermione dragged Oliver over to Severus as soon as she caught sight of him, being careful to use his good arm.

"Hey Severus, how's it going living with Annabella?"

"It's going well, she isn't scared of me anymore so that's a plus." Anna blushed and looked down.

"You noticed that?"

"I was a spy for 20 years. Of course I noticed that, though it's nice to know my reputation precedes me. How was work today?"

"Terrible." They both answered. By now the others had joined them so they had a group of 20. Molly and Arthur were still inside waiting for Ginny, Ron, Marcus, and Lavender.

"Why was it terrible? And where do you work Hermione? I thought you still worked with the twins and Severus. I guess we haven't talked in quite a while, have we?" Bill asked

"I work with Puddlemere as the assistant coach and I make their plays. I just started on Monday so it's pretty new. But it was terrible because I spent all day stuck on one part of a calculation for the play I'm working on."

"Yeah for me it was a bludger. We were doing stations and I was blocking when a stray bludger hit my broom from behind. It broke my broom and I fell to the ground and dislocated my shoulder, to add to that I had to put it back myself and it's against the rules for me to have a pain potion for an injury sustained during a practice. It fucking hurts; she had to help me put my shirt on because I can barely move it." The twins gave sympathetic nods.

"Being beaters we suffered a lot of that in school."

"If you get rid of the bruising it usually helps some, I can send you some bruise removing paste through the floo from the store later." George offered, Oliver agreed if only for the sake of his poor shoulder.

"DINNER!" Molly shouted; they all turned just in time to see four very upset looking people. Lavender was hanging off of Ron's arm like a leech and both were scowling at Hermione. Ginny was doing the same with Marcus but he seemed to just be staring Oliver down. They all walked over and sat down.

"So speaking of the shop, Fred, how is it going?"

"It's a big waste of time and I would prefer you stopped encouraging them." Molly cut in.

"It seems to be going well, with the amount of products Remus and I need to confiscate." Charlie stuck up for his brothers.

"It is actually going well; we make lots of money off the products you create and we seriously wish you would agree to be paid."

"Yeah Hermione, now that you're not working you will want to make some money so you can pay for your apartment. After all I highly doubt Oliver wants you living with him." Lavenders whiney voice cut in.

"Actually Mia and I have been living together for almost two weeks now, voluntarily and happily. Also she has a job."

"Oh right I guess she's fucking you now? Wow Hermes you really get around don't you? And here I thought you were just a frigid bitch."

"Ronald shut your mouth." Harry spoke.

"I wouldn't talk like that; you're on thin ice as it is."

"There are 20 people here that wouldn't hesitate to hex you or kill you including me and the girl you're talking about."

"So where are you working Hermione?" Molly asked scathingly "Department in the ministry? Something else that will ruin your children's lives through neglect?" She seemed to ignore the warning Harry just issued to Ron who had paled a little at the thought of a 20 to 1 battle.

"I'm working for Puddlemere United and my child will not be neglected just because I'm working. My parents worked and I don't feel I was neglected."

"Yes and look where that got them. You erased their memories and they died in a plane crash." She sniped. Hermione had tears running down her face now and Oliver wanted to comfort her but his chest started to hurt. He grabbed at it and all the table occupants who were looking at Hermione now looked at him.

"Oliver, what's wrong?" Julia asked

"Does your chest hurt?" Sarafina asked.

"Hermione I really think we need to have that talk we spoke about." He gritted out between clenched teeth. She looked confused and touched his arm, the pain started to fade and you could see it on his face.

"Ollie, what's going on?"

"I think it's time to leave." He told her, she nodded and rose holding his hand the entire time; not even realizing she was doing it.

"Bye." She said absent mindedly to all the confused faces. The other 20, who actually liked the pair that just left, did so as well.


	23. The Talk

**If you recognize it it's not mine.**

They got home and went to the library so they wouldn't be interrupted by a floo call. Oliver pulled her into his lap feeling like he needed to keep contact with her. He began to explain things to her.

"So ever since the war I haven't been sleeping very well, I never understood it. Then, when I woke, it would always be around the same time, for no reason, and I could sometimes get back to sleep but if I did it was a restless kind of sleep. Then the marriage law came out and I figured it was just nerves, when you told me about the torture and whenever you cried it hurt me a little but I barely noticed. Then, as I got to know you, when I woke I would be in more and more pain. When I stayed at Grimmauld it was the worst as I watched you after the nightmare.

"After that it kind of clicked for me. Every time you woke with a nightmare I woke here with a dull pain or ache in my chest. Honestly I forgot about it after you moved in because it all stopped. Then at dinner when you started crying and my chest felt like it was being stabbed over and over again. I don't know what's going on with me. I know I love you but that isn't what's causing this, when people explain how it hurts them to see their spouse cry I don't think they mean physically."

"Wow, that's really strange. Did it stop when I touched your arm?"

"Yes, it faded almost instantly, why?"

"Because I stopped crying when I touched you. All my emotional pain faded into nothing, that's why I took your hand, I didn't want to start crying again. When I was doing some reading in the library of Hogwarts once I found a book on bonds; an introduction kind of book. Maybe we have a bond? It fits; needing contact when sad, growing the connection by getting to know each other, pain and wanting to protect and comfort one another. The immense pain is probably reminiscent of our bond not being complete."

"Okay, but what kind of bond and how are we supposed to complete it?"

"Well, it depends; some need marriage, some need sex, some need a blood ritual. All I know is we should probably complete it as soon as possible. To do that I'm going to need to find some books on bonds, and ceremonies for them, once I figure out what bond we have. Maybe I should buy as many bonding books as I can find; this library doesn't have anything on bonds I don't think."

"I will help you look for it; after all I would like to know about it as well."

"Good, we start after Tonks and Charlie get married."

"So how do you want to go about training the team this week?"

"I think the best way to do it would be by having the people who have the position train the others, and of course you can help me with my plays while they learn, and help the seekers, and teach for keeper."

"Okay, well we have 6 days and seven players, why don't we give each player one day to 'coach' then combine the seeker and keeper's days. We can do it so the reserves learn the keeper while the first string learns the seeker and vice versa?"

"That sounds doable. I think seeker and keeper Monday so I can finish some calculations while you coach. William and Josh on Tuesday, Stephen and Morgan on Wednesday, Tim and Lucas on Thursday. Then the beaters can be Cameron and Simon on Friday, and finally Tony and Jack on Saturday. You and Carlos will teach Keeper and Dan and Patrick can teach Seeker... wait no then how will Carlos, Dan, and Patrick learn the other role?"

"Actually Carlos played seeker in school and Dan and Patrick played Keeper for a short while before becoming a seeker. That's why I suggested we split Monday."

"Wow this worked out perfectly. Maybe tomorrow you should send an owl to the three of them so they know to expect to be coaching on Monday and can have a plan. Maybe send one to the whole team."

"Good idea, I will send them out before we leave tomorrow, I will send them through the floo because we don't have that many owls and I would feel bad for Athena to send her to England, then Scotland, and all over."Athena was Hermione's brown tawny owl, and Hermione always caring for magical creatures and animals agreed to Oliver's assessment.

They decided to go to the den to wait for Tonks after they finished writing the letters and getting them ready to send. Tomorrow was Tonks and Charlie's wedding and Tonks would be spending the night at Wood Farmhouse and getting ready there tomorrow.

Tonks fell out of the floo 20 minutes later with all her stuff landing on the floor. Oliver had to bite his lip to keep his laughter in at her surprised face that came after she fell.

"Good evening Tonks."

"Hey Oliver. Hermione I got the bridesmaid dress you sent me to get when I got yours. I brought it with me so you could change it if you wanted and I also have yours." She gave Hermione two dress bags. She opened the first and nodded in approval, it was just as she wanted it a satin, knee length, dark purple dress, with capped sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. She gave it back to Tonks and looked in the other bag.

The dress was beautiful; it was a knee length pencil skirt style dress. The under layer was a dark pink or magenta color and the top layer was black lace. The pink had a sweetheart neckline and the lace had a collar neckline and it made sleeves that went to the wrist, which Hermione was grateful for. She really didn't like showing her scar and the sleeves would cover it perfectly. She ran over and hugged Tonks.

"Thank you for getting one with sleeves." The older witch chuckled.

"Well I want you to be comfortable and I didn't want just a pink dress that would look stupid so I had to get a lace covered one and that was the only one they had." She said with a smirk that told Hermione she was lying through her teeth. Hermione led Tonks to one of the guest rooms to get settled in for the night while Oliver went up to bed; Hermione joined him 5 minutes later. He was of course sleeping shirtless due to him not being able to put one on and Hermione snuggled into his chest on his good side and went to sleep.


	24. Wedding One: Tonks and Charlie

**If you recognize it it's not mine.**

Hermione woke up to a head of vibrant blue hair and pink eyes. If she couldn't hear Oliver laughing behind her she would have been scared. Instead she looked at the alarm clock and smiled it was 9am, the longest she had slept in almost a year.

"Do you think this will go well with my dress?"

"No, Tonks it won't; your dress is white and purple. If anything black hair and grey eyes would look best."

"Are you trying to tell me to show my true appearance?"

"No. How about fuchsia hair and blue or green eyes?"

"Why can't you discus this when we aren't in bed, or be a normal bride and talk about nail color instead of eyes and hair?" Oliver cut in.

"Speaking of nails, do you think a light purple or dark purple?" Oliver groaned and the two witches laughed.

"Ollie why don't you go cook breakfast, Tonks and I have much to discus; especially since she's nervous."

"AM NOT!" Tonks said a little too loud for them to believe her.

"Come on Tonks let's go to your room." Hermione said dragging a protesting Tonks out of the room. Four hours later the girls left to get ready at the wizarding hotel the wedding would take place at. Another three hours later Oliver left to go to the wedding. He took his seat and within twenty minutes Charlie and Bill, his best man, along with Percy, the officiator, were standing at the front of the room.

The doors at the back opened and Hermione walked into the room looking amazing in her dress. She had on a pair of fuchsia pumps and her hair was hanging in loose curls. Oliver had never seen her more beautiful, and it turned out neither had Ronald who was gaping at her. If Oliver wasn't the better man he would have been bragging about gaining Hermione's affection.

Everyone stood when the wedding march started and Tonks entered the room. She was in a calf length white gown, with a dark purple bodice and flowers lining the end of it. It had a sweetheart neckline and no sleeves, on the right side it had a sheer purple bow and details that looked like petals going down the side after the flowers. Her hair was long and black with pink ends, hanging in tight ringlets. Her shoes were perfect though and they made Oliver chuckle; they were neon orange and went with nothing but Charlie's hair.

He had come to expect nothing less. Molly looked appalled by the dress she wore but Charlie just smiled and looked pointedly at her shoes and she smirked. That exchange was all Oliver needed to see to know it was just in spite of found the ceremony very educational being only her second wizarding wedding and all. Turns out that the marriage bond they used filled the bride and groom with magic and cleansed theirs. It made it so they could effortlessly cast a patronus. Casting a patronus was how the ceremony ended; after a kiss the bride and groom both cast the patronus charm and then followed it down the aisle. Tonks' dolphin and Charlie's dragon went down the aisle followed by the casters then Hermione and Bill.

They all entered the ballroom for the reception and Hermione waited by the door for Oliver. The second he entered she marched him to the head table to sit with her.

"Hey Charlie, and... I can't call you Tonks anymore can I?"

"Oh you can, and you will."

"Fine, congratulations Tonks and Charlie; by the way love the shoes." They all laughed and Molly approached the table.

"Those shoes are monstrosities why would you ruin a perfect wedding by wearing what you are?"

"Because it's my wedding not yours and to me this was perfect." Tonks replied "If you aren't enjoying yourself you can leave." Molly went and sat in her seat glaring at her son who was laughing with Tonks and playing with her hair.

After the bride and groom had their first dance they opened the floor to everyone. Hermione danced with Oliver the whole night only stopping to dance with all the other men in her life. She even danced with Harry, and she had a wonderful night. That is until Ron asked her to dance.

"Hey Hermes, let's dance." He said and grabbed her left arm.

"Ronald maybe I don't want to dance with you."

"Oh you're dancing with me, let's go." He was dragging her to the dance floor, causing a scene, and Oliver was trying to get to them but the crowd was too thick and he couldn't get through. Eventually the lace of her sleeve ripped and Ron looked at it. His eyes widened and he looked at her, that's when she knew he saw it. She tried to take her arm back again but it was too late Harry had made it to the front of the crowd by Molly and Arthur. Ron took her sleeve and ripped it off and held her arm up for people to see.

"When did this happen?" He asked rudely and Hermione could hear the disgust. Oliver had finally made it to them he took her arm from Ron and placed his suit jacket on her. After punching Ron in the face he brought them over to the bridal party and made their goodbyes. Hermione was crying again and Harry just seemed frozen. Oliver had constant contact with Hermione as he disapparated them back home. He held her as she cried herself to sleep.

Oliver put her in bed and went to the floo where he had seen a package. He opened it and saw four books on bonding ceremonies, bonds, and such things. He smiled softly _same old Hermione._ He thought. After putting the books in the kitchen he went to bed and curled up with Hermione. Tomorrow they would start their research and their new plan for training; it was going to be a big day.


	25. The Bond& The Teams Learning Experience

**If you recognize it, it's not mine. Also sorry if my translation later in the chapter is wrong, I speak French and English not Latin.**

Oliver woke up first and watched Hermione sleep. She looked so peaceful he really hated to wake her, but that didn't stop him.

"Mia, time to get up; we got the books you ordered yesterday and we have practice in two hours." Yes they were up early, 4:30am, but they needed to know what they were dealing with here.

"Fine, help me up?" she asked him pitifully. He chuckled and did as he was told. They each went to different bathrooms to shower and dress for the day, and met in the kitchen for breakfast while they read.

"This is useless almost every bond I'm reading about is the same and none of them match our connection!" Hermione burst an hour later. Oliver covered her hand with his own.

"Mia, this will take time. We can't just open a book and have it be the first one we see. If my assumption is correct this connection will probably be very rare."

"That's why I got books on rare bonds." He chuckled and smiled at her put out expression.

"Come on Mia, we should be getting to practice we need to speak with coach before hand about this week's practices and get his approval." She nodded and took his offered arm.

They got to the stadium and saw that the whole team was already there. Hermione was confused, but Oliver saw one of them holding a Daily Prophet and groaned.

"What are you all doing here so early?"

"Hermione, have you and Oliver read the paper today?"

"No we were busy reading about... something; why?"

"You might want to take a look. There are pictures from your friend's wedding in it today." Hermione's eyes widened for a second before she took the offered paper from Stephen. She read the headline with Oliver reading over her shoulder.

 ** _HERMIONE GRANGER BRANDED?_**

 ** _By: Lily Fellows_**

 ** _Last night at the wedding of Nymphadora Tonks and Charlie Weasley Hermione Granger decided to show a scar she received at some point in her life. This writer wasn't able to see the action herself but a source sent me the information._**

 ** _Apparently Miss. Granger was so desperate to be the center of attention she ruined her friend's wedding by first charming the brides shoes orange, then by ripping her dress in the middle of the dance floor to show a scar on her left arm._** ****

 ** _"_** ** _Ronald Weasley tried to get her to calm down but she just yelled at him. I really think she was jealous and wanted the attention from him and the groom." Our source told me. She also included a picture of said scar and Ronald trying to calm her down. If you can't tell the scar marks her as a 'mudblood'. One must wonder if she did it to herself out of her own self pity or if she just charmed it on to get attention._**

Hermione had tears in her eyes after she finished and Oliver was furious and in pain. He took the newspaper and threw it on the ground; then he incinerated it. He looked at the team and spoke while putting his arm around Hermione's shoulders.

"That is not true, at least most of it isn't."

"We kind of figured but we would like to know why they say these things, if you can tell us. If not that's fine too."

"I don't know if Mia would-"

"Fine I will tell you. If I do though please promise me you won't tell anyone. The only people that know are Oliver, his parents, and my old roommates, along with Tonks." When they nodded she sat and noticed Coach Mills for the first time he was sitting with the team and waiting to hear the story. "I do have a scar that says mudblood on my left forearm." She showed them and there were a few gasps in the room.

"During the war Harry, Ronald, and I went on a hunt for Voldemort's horcruxes. He had seven of them making him almost immortal. We lived in a tent and one night Ronald left, he just abandoned us. When he came back he got Harry angry and made him say Voldemort. Snatchers caught us and brought us to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix tortured me for a while with the cruciatus and a cursed blade. I was also almost raped but Lucius stopped that because the would be rapists were needed elsewhere. Bella carved it into my arm and when a house elf helped us escape the boys didn't even notice it.

"So that's how I got the scar and now about last night. I had danced with everyone and I was headed back to my seat when Ronald stopped me. Before the law passed he asked me to marry him and I turned him down. I haven't been able to trust him since he left us in the middle of the woods. He wanted to dance, I said no, he was dragging me or trying to anyways. He ripped the sleeve of my dress and saw part of it. He ripped the whole sleeve off and looked disgusted and started asking where I got it. That's when Ollie finally made it through the crowd and gave me his jacket.

"We left after that and I went to bed. I guess Lavender thinks I still want Ron. Or maybe she just wants to ruin my life because I don't worship the ground she walks on. Either way she spreads rumors but isn't very creative. This is the second time she's done this to me. She was behind the whole Rita Skeeter thing in my fourth year as well." She looked up from her lap and saw the astonished faces. None of them held pity or disgust just surprise.

"Bloody Hell you've been through way too much for only being 17."

"You don't know the half of it" Oliver mumbled. "Okay I sent you all letters so you should know what we're doing this week, it's Monday so let's get started." Oliver gave Hermione a peck on the cheek and mounted his new broom flying off. The rest of the team followed but Stephen stopped to give her a hug first. He liked Hermione; they had spent some time together when he would visit Oliver at home.

Hermione sat beside the coach and started working on one of the plays calculations. She finished the arrhythmic calculations before lunch and did all the physics ones after. By the time practice was over Hermione's brain was fried. Though she did have more research to look forward to so she was excited.

The rest of the week went similarly to Monday. They would get up early, read about different bonds, then go to work, finalize plays, go home, and research more. Hermione had ended up buying six other books on bonds and they were proving more helpful than the first ones.

By Saturday night they were both at a loss when Hermione found a small passage. It was a minimum description of the incomplete bond and the ceremony to complete it.

"Ollie I found it! We have the _Caritas est vinculum_ or true love's bond. It describes what we have perfectly and it says to complete it we need to be bonded in marriage."

"Wow, well what does it do to the couple after the bond is complete?" Hermione flipped the page and flipped back, her eyebrows furrowed.

"It doesn't tell you anything about after the bond just before and how to complete it. Wait it says here that certain things will change when your magic is cleansed; it goes into the air and when it re enters the body it's mixed."

"So theoretically our magic will be linked?"

"Yeah I guess so."

"Bloody hell."

"Ditto."

"I need sleep it is far too late for this, add on the fact that we're having your family over tomorrow and I just can't." Oliver said and stood to leave.

"Wait for me I just need to put the books away." Hermione told him he turned looked at the books and walked over to her. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"AHHH, Ollie put me down!" she was pounding on his back but it seemed to be hurting her more than it was him. He was chuckling and ignoring her protests. When he got to the bedroom he threw her on the bed gently and went to the bathroom to change for bed, giving her enough time to do so herself.

They went to bed happy that they found the answer even if the future of it was unsure. Maybe they should tell the others tomorrow...


	26. Quidditch Game 2

**If you recognize it, it's not mine. As far as ages and things like that goes, I didn't know their ages when I wrote most of this and was writing in the car (without internet) so I did change them while trying to make them still as close as possible to what they really are, sorry if this confuses or bugs you but it is what it is.**

The next week the team practiced the new plays provided by Hermione. As was expected their overall stats went up after learning how to play the other positions and listening to their teammates tricks. They could now work as a single organism. Oliver and Hermione didn't tell anyone about the bond yet but they knew they should do it before the wedding just in case. So they created a plan.

"Okay team that was really good. Tomorrow we have our second game of the season; we are doing the play that we practiced all week. This is a long play so remember it, study it, and perfect it." The team went to leave and Hermione looked at Oliver, he stood on his seat and got everyone's attention.

"Hey everybody, wait up! Tomorrow after the game, win or lose, me and Hermione want everybody at our place. Now you won't be the only ones there, Hermione's family and a few select others will be there too, but we want everyone there instead of our usual team only thing. This includes you coach; thank you, you can go now." Oliver got off his seat and walked over to Hermione ignoring all the questions.

"Ready to go?" Hermione asked, he nodded and they flooed home. Hermione sent letters with tickets to tomorrow's game to all the ones she knew would want to go, and without for those who wouldn't, to all those coming tomorrow. They went to bed right after dinner that night as they were both exhausted from the week and what was to come.

The next morning they slept in until 10am, had breakfast, and went to the stadium for noon. They had a few practice run-throughs of what to do when they saw the snitch using a levitated golf ball. When the other team arrived for warm up they switched to basic practice drills while playing down their skills. Today they were playing the Appleby Arrows and the other teams coach and captain were watching them closely until they caught sight of Hermione. They walked over to them.

"Mills you know nobody but the team can be here until the game, even if she is your captain's fiancé." The coach told them.

"Yes I am aware of that rule." Mills replied simply not looking away from the warm up his team was doing.

"Then what is she doing here." The way the captain spit out the word _she_ Hermione assumed he read and believed the article

"Hermione is my assistant coach." He purposely left out the team strategist part as was the plan when other teams asked.

"You've never had an assistant coach."

"First time for everything, now leave me alone and focus on your team not mine." The other two left and they continued watching the warm ups until all players had to leave the pitch for the spectators to enter the stadium. Hermione was in the home teams coach's box waiting for the match to start when the team came in.

"Hey Mia, ready to see your play and our pure talent win the game?"

"Ollie, does being a quidditch player come with you being a cocky prick?"

"It happens to the best of us before a game." Stephen came up to them. "Hey do you mind if I bring my fiancé with me tonight? I feel bad leaving her to her own devices for the night... she doesn't have many friends since the war ended. Plus she says she went to school with you and was in your year at Hogwarts."

"Of course it's no problem, what's her name? Before the war we had a pretty big class, I'm afraid I never had the strength to look at the full death list."

"Cho Chang, she was in Ravenclaw."

"Cho? I haven't seen her since sixth year; I would love to see her again."

"AND NOW PLEASE WELCOME OUR HOME TEAM PUDDLEMERE UNITED AND THEIR OPPONENTS THE APPLEBY ARROWS!" the announcer said over the intercom, the crowd went wild and the team mounted their brooms.

"Remember to look for the snitch, every sighting will be signaled, even if you're the seeker." Coach told them as they left the box. Oliver was the last to leave but not before being warned by Hermione not to get hurt.

"THIS IS SHAPING UP TO BE A WONDERFUL GAME! PUDDLEMERES PLAYERS KEEP MAKING SIGNALS TO EACH OTHER, ONE HAS TO WONDER WHAT THIS IS FOR! OLIVER WOOD SAVES ANOTHER SHOT FROM ONE OF THE OPPOSING CHASERS AND SIGNALS THE TEAM AGAIN! WHAT IS GOING ON?"

"Do you think the announcer is helping them keep track of whose signaling and where or messing them up?" Hermione asked

"I think its helping. Look at Ajax he's watching everything from the highest ground in the center of the pitch while the other seeker needs to circle the pitch and be lower to the ground." The coach had given up trying to use the other player's names with Hermione knowing she would never remember them.

"CHASER STEPHEN JONES FOR PUDDLEMERE UNITED SCORES! ANOTHER 10 POINTS FOR PUDDLEMERE! WHAT'S THIS HES SIGNALING DAN AJAX THE SEEKER QUITE URGENTLY TO ANOTHER AREA OF THE PITCH! IS THIS WHAT THEY'VE BEEN DOING TELLING THE SEEKER WHEN THEY SEE THE SNITCH? THE APPLEBY ARROWS SEEKER ZOOMS OFF IN THE DIRECTION OF THE SIGNAL AND AJAX DOESN'T FOLLOW! AJAX GOES TO AN AREA NEAR OLIVER WOOD AND DIVES! DAN AJAX HAS THE SNITCH! PUDDLEMERE UNITED WINS!" the crowd was going wild with excitement. While Stephen was signaling a very obvious signal to the opposite direction Oliver had been quietly signaling to where the snitch was. It was a common misdirect, one that almost nobody else understood.

"Okay boys go shower and I will meet you at the Wood Farmhouse!" Hermione yelled over the celebrating team that had landed in the coaches box after their victory lap.

"See you in a few Mia." Oliver kissed her and left the room.

"Hey Hermione, are you meeting your friends in the guests box?"

"Yeah, I'm going to floo them to my place from here; why?"

"Could you take Cho with you? I told her I would go see her before I left but if she's coming..."

"Go shower and get ready Stephen, I will bring her with us." Hermione went to the visitor's box to get all her house guests. When she arrived Fred and Harry were talking to Cho while the rest of them waited for Hermione. She smiled and watched for a few moments thinking about her new life.


	27. The After Party

**If you recognize it it's not mine.**

"Well if it isn't the girl who won them the game." George announced her presence.

"Yeah, yeah now let's go. Cho, Stephen told me to just bring you with us as you will be joining us tonight. He will meet you there in about 20 minutes." She nodded and smiled. Hermione led the group to the floo for team members only where the coach was waiting.

"Hey Ted, ready to go?" he nodded once and Hermione watched everyone step through the floo, Cho went last, and then she went through a few moments after her.

As per usual, when Hermione reappeared on the other side she fell directly on her arse. This caused any awkward tension in the room to vanish and laughter to rise. She saw Severus smirking at her on the other side of the room and glared at him. The floo started again and the team all entered one by one with Oliver coming last. The room was very crowded now with Hermione's family and their spouses plus an entire quidditch team. It didn't help that they were all laughing at her.

"Mia, you need to learn to floo properly." Oliver was trying to hold in his laughter and failed miserably when she made a face at him. He gave her his hand to pull her up. Once on her own two feet again she went over and hugged Severus, Remus, and Sirius. Cho seemed surprised to see the feared bat of the dungeons getting and giving a hug to a Gryffindor. Luna stood by her fellow Ravenclaw and patted her on the back.

"Let's go out to the garden it is a little crowded in here, plus she made food and placed stasis charms on it all before we left." Oliver spoke once everyone was over the shock of the hug and their laughter at Hermione.

Upon arriving outside they all sat at the giant round table piled with food. Everyone started eating and talking about anything. The two families were mingling perfectly and no insults, other than playful ones, were being thrown. Hermione was proud and continued catching up with Cho. Even after the food was gone they continued talking.

"Hey Kitten, in your letter you said you wanted to talk to us all about something while we were here. Care to share?" Sirius brought up after a conversation with Severus reminded him of why they were here in the first place.

"Wait before you do that, Kitten? Where did that come from?"

"Well Dan you see one day, while Severus was still healing from his snake bite, people were apparently being a little difficult. Hermione here lured us all into a room together and yelled at us for an hour."

"By people he means Sirius, Severus, and the Twins. Charlie and I are innocent." Remus interrupted.

"She was not as calm as she usually is and when the twins tried to leave when she was distracted she scratched them. Severus made the joke that she was like a feisty little kitten waiting for her prey to step out of line before attacking. After that she was known as kitten. To get back at him she calls him Sev because she knows he won't hex her like he would anybody else who called him that."

"Yeah there's also a joke that Hermione is Sirius and Severus' love child. It kind of fits I mean she has Severus' temper and Sirius' playful side." Remus concluded.

"Shut up you mangy wolf." Severus said menacingly.

"Wolf?" the quidditch team and Cho seemed confused.

"Werewolf." Remus said pointing to himself.

"Now back on topic... why you're all here." Oliver cut through the questions.

"Fred and Kathy's wedding is in a week and then Ollie's and mine is next."

"Mia and I found out about something we thought you should know before our wedding."

"In case something... strange happens when we are bonded and in the following weeks."

"You two are starting to scare us now." Tonks spoke.

"Mia and I have a bond."

"A bond?" Harry repeated.

"Yes, it's called _Caritas est vinculum_ or true love's bond. After what happened at the Burrow Oliver told me about how any time I had a nightmare he would wake up with small amounts of pain in his chest that grew stronger as we got to know each other. When we sleep in the same bed I don't get nightmares."

"I, of course, didn't know why I woke up with pain at the time but after seeing her at Grimmauld place that night it kind of clicked. I was going to tell her but things happened and I forgot until the Burrow, after that we talked about it and started to research bonds."

"It took a week but we finally found it, problem is it doesn't have much information on this particular bond because it is very rare. Thus we don't know what will happen after our magic is cleansed and goes back into our bodies. All it said was 'things will change.'"

"I've read about that. As a curse breaker we need to know certain things like bonds. There really isn't any information on that bond. The reason behind that is because it only happens every thousand years or so." Bill explained.

"Yes, Merlin and his wife were the first to report such a thing. Then it was Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw. Now it seems to be you." Percy added on. When people looked at him in shock he continued. "What? I work in the archives at the ministry. It gets boring so I read the books and scrolls."

"Well this is certainly interesting. Are you sure it isn't another bond?" Severus asked.

"Yea, we read every book we could find about bonds and that was the only one that explained what was going on between us." Oliver answered.

"And what exactly is going on between you? I mean aside from the whole nightmare thing." Coach Mills asked. "I seem to remember Hermione having pain in her shoulder when you dislocated yours in practice that day. Or even having small pains when you get hit by bludgers or quaffles."

"Well whenever she is crying I get immense pain in my chest. Then when one of us gets hurt the other can feel it. I can sometimes sense her emotions."

"We also find it easier to read each other; almost like we know what the other is thinking. It's my guess all of this will get stronger after the bond is completed." The table nodded.

"I'm guessing we're keeping this quiet from the people who aren't here?" Percy asked. "I have nothing against it, my parents have been terrible to you and Harry since Ron asked you to marry him and after the marriage law came out. This is why I left my family during the war, this behavior. They act all nice but then they turn around and are complete arses. Sometimes I wonder why I went back, other than the fact that I missed my brothers and needed a place to stay after my apartment building burned down just after the law came out."

"Yeah, Molly is very controlling. She keeps trying to get me to quit my job, I don't want to but I almost caved the other day." Penelope, Percy's fiancé, told the table.

"I'm sorry Percy; if Bill and I had room you know you could live with us." Fleur told him.

"There's always Grimmauld place. It's not as crowded now that everyone's moved in with their fiancés. Just Remus, Julia, Mary, and I."

"Yeah you two could come live with us." Julia told them.

"Really?" Penelope perked up. "Percy, I think this might be for the best."

"I agree. If you're sure you don't mind we will move in tomorrow." Sirius nodded and smiled at him.

"I will come over to help, Molly hates me anyways."

"Wait is Molly really that bad? I mean everything I've heard about her before tonight was good. Maybe a bit suffocating, but good none the less." Carlos asked.

"The last time Mia went to the Burrow Molly asked her where she was working now, and if she would still be neglecting her child by working." Oliver started

"Then when she explained how both her parents worked and she turned out fine, Molly asked if she really turned out well." Severus said

"Yeah I do believe after that she said and I quote _"Yes and look where that got them. You erased their memories and they died in a plane crash."_ Oh so loving." Remus further explained.

"She blamed their deaths on Hermione?" Stephen asked.

"Yup, plus the time before that she watched Ronald slap her in the face. After everyone left and I questioned her on it she told me Hermione was a women and women who don't behave need to be put in their place." Bill told them.

The next hour consisted of the people who had met the other Weasleys describing what they had done to all of them over the years. By the end, the entire quidditch team had a large hatred for them. Then Hermione and Harry told them some of the things that Ron and Ginny had said to Hermione during school and they looked murderous.

At least the next two weddings wouldn't be boring, especially with what all the girls had planned...


	28. Wedding Two: Fred and Kathy

**If you recognize it, it's not mine. So a few people have been talking about how Hermione would never just let someone else do the fighting for her, but in the first chapter I wrote about how she liked their overprotective behavior and she likes the fact that for once she doesn't need to be strong. In this chapter you will get to see a little bit of strong Hermione but, yes, for the most part she is a little lax in her fighting side in this story; I am writing one where she will be standing up for herself a bit more at the moment and that will be published when I'm a little further in the writing. Thank you for reading this far and for reading my mini-rant thing, Enjoy.**

A week had passed since everyone had found out the truth about the Weasley matriarch. Today was Wednesday and it also happened to be Fred and Kathy's wedding.

Hermione and Oliver had gotten the afternoon off work. Neither was in the wedding so when they got there it was 20 minutes until the wedding started.

"Looks like Fred's wish of lost invitations didn't come true. It also looks like all six are not liking my dress." Hermione was wearing a sleeveless, knee length, grey dress. To match her dress she wore neon pink heels.

"Nice shoes Hermione." Tonks said when she walked up to her in her neon orange shoes. All the females at the dinner a week ago decided to wear neon heels, even Kathy. Fleur's were blue, Hermione's were pink, Tonks had orange, Annabella had green, Julia had red, Sarafina had yellow, Luna had dark blue, and Mary had magenta. Molly was glaring at all of them, Hermione couldn't wait until she saw that Kathy had purple.

The men, Fred and George in particular, all thought it was brilliant. They decided to join in and had ties and handkerchiefs to match. Molly really did look like a fire hydrant. Red, short, plump, and all dogs wanted her to be pissed on.

"Same to you Tonks." Hermione said as they passed on their way to their seats. Every one of the girls they passed Hermione complimented their shoes. Eventually Molly burst and walked over to a now seated Oliver and Hermione.

"What do you all think you're doing, ruining their wedding like this?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"First you show up and show that hideous scar then you wear those hideous shoes. How do you think the bride will feel when she sees them?"

"I think she will love them." Hermione smirked.

"No she won't you are ruining her wedding!"

"And you have no right to make accusations without knowing the full story." Hermione was saved when the music started and Molly bustled back to her seat in rage. Fred was standing at the front with George when Kathy's maid of honor Julia walked in wearing her neon red shoes and gold dress. All the brides agreed to have one maid of honor and that it would be another bride of the seven.

She stood up by Percy and the twins, everyone stood when the doors opened. Kathy walked in looking beautiful. Her dress was a v neck, floor length, invisible sleeved gown. The whole dress hung loosely accentuating her curves perfectly; it was covered in a lace flower design. Kathy's hair was up in a French twist and she wore a floor length veil. The overall look was stunning. Hermione only hoped to look that beautiful in twenty days at her own wedding.

The ceremony was short and sweet; it ended with Fred's fox and Kathy's lynx marching down the aisle followed by the proud casters. As they passed Molly Kathy lifted her dress just enough for the entire room to see her neon purple pumps. Molly looked furious and Hermione was trying so hard not to laugh she was red in the face.

They all arrived at the reception and Fred and Kathy had a crazy first dance. Molly was getting redder by the second since she had seen Kathy's shoes.

"Okay now this next dance will be just for those wearing neon heels and your partners." The DJ announced. All of Molly's least favorite people danced for the next song. They went with a traditional waltz and a few people who understood the irony laughed.

"Ollie we never decided where we were having the wedding. It's probably too late to book anything."

"Why don't we have it in the garden of the farmhouse?"

"Molly, Ron, and Ginny are invited; do we really want to give them access to our home?"

"Remind me again why they're coming?"

"I don't know, when I ordered the invitations I accidentally wrote Weasleys forgetting what that entailed. It was late and I was tired." Hermione pouted and Oliver kissed it off her face.

"I think we should have it at the house and just ward all over except the direct path to the area we will marry. The invitation didn't say an address so they will just assume it's the RSVP address. We can rent a big tent and presto: Wedding." Hermione snickered at his exclamation and agreed to the plan.

The rest of the wedding went as smoothly as could be expected. Molly made a few comments on things she just couldn't accept, Ginny ignored her fiancé and looked elsewhere for attention, and Ron glared at Hermione in between kisses with Lavender who felt she needed to stake her claim. Toward the end of the night Marcus Flint approached Oliver and Hermione.

"Hey, look I know we aren't exactly friends but I would like to warn you. Ginny and Ronald are planning something for your wedding. I don't know what but it will be bad. I might know either of you, and you might not like me, but it's pretty obvious when two people belong together."

"Thank you Marcus, we will keep our eyes open. You know I feel kind of bad for you, being stuck with Ginny. She's a gold digger too dumb to notice you're filthy rich." Hermione spoke.

"Yeah sometimes I wonder if they matched us wrong, I mean everyone else seems happy except I'm not."

"Maybe you are... there are only two couples I know of who are unhappy. You and Ginny, and Padma Patil and Gregory Goyle. Maybe they sent out the letters wrong?" Oliver spoke.

"You know I'm being traded in a few days; I'm joining your team. I will be a first string beater in Cameron Webbers place." Cameron was being kicked out of the league for being caught trying to sell secret team plays to other teams and betting booths. It had happened a few days ago and Puddlemere had already planned a training week for the new beater when he arrived. Cameron was also uninvited to the wedding and everyone on the team cut ties with him when he tried to blame it all on Hermione.

"You're the new beater!" Hermione looked excited.

"He just said that Mia. Do we need to get your hearing checked?" Oliver answered; Marcus chuckled slightly at her scowl.

"Yeah I start tomorrow. I really hope none of you are too angry with my past behavior; it was in my contract to be brutal and show no mercy. It was part of the reason I was quick to accept this contract. I've changed; I don't want to be known as a dirty player."

"We won't make you one, Mia hates people who play dirty and she creates our plays."

"So about those plays... do I get a copy tomorrow? If not I might not be ready in time for the majority of the games. That could ruin our chance at the cup and I don't want to be the reason-" Marcus was cut off when a ministry owl dropped a letter at his feet. He picked it up and read it, his smile got larger the more he read. Hermione was just about to ask what was going on when she heard a screech.

"GREGORY GOYLE! I AM NOT MARRYING HIM! HE'S WORSE THAN FLINT!" apparently Oliver was right, they were matched wrong. His smile vanished a second later though.

"Crap."

"What?"

"Ginny made me sell my flat and move in here. If I remember correctly Greg would have done the same to Padma. I have nowhere to go." Hermione looked at Oliver who nodded.

"We have four spare rooms. You and Padma are welcome to stay with us until you can find a place of your own." Hermione offered.

"Are you sure? I don't want to impose."

"As long as you aren't disrespectful, and have no problem with your ex head of house dropping in every once in a while to see Mia, then it's no problem."

"Thanks, I get the feeling I might need to move in tonight though if the look on Molly's face and the fact she's walking over here is any indication." They nodded and went to find Fred to excuse all three of them. Fred was very sympathetic and nodded. He knew how much Marcus had changed just by the way he acted, instead of starting and entering fights he sat out and watched in hopelessness. When he was fighting you could tell his heart wasn't in it.

"Well she kicked me out; I'm going to pack my stuff."

"I'll help you." Oliver volunteered while Hermione went off to alert her family of the situation. They met at the floo twenty minutes later when a small jack rabbit entered the room. In Padma's voice it spoke.

"Marcus, I really hope this finds you quickly. Goyle is really angry, he thinks I went to the ministry. He's kicked me out and I don't feel safe here. I don't know where to go and I hoped I could stay with you. I'm at the Goyle estate in Wiltshire, please come get me or send someone, something." It sounded muffled and she sounded scared like she was hiding from an angry man.

"Ollie, you bring Marcus home and I will go get Padma. I have unfinished business with Goyle and he needs to know that I'm still the person I was before and Padma is my friend. I warned him what I would do if he hurt my friends. Meet you in twenty." She smiled and stepped through the floo.

"What do you think she's going to do to him?"

"I've no clue but I'd rather not find out by not following her orders." Oliver told him and flooed with half of Marcus' stuff to Wood Farmhouse.

When Hermione walked out of the floo, happy she hadn't fell, in Goyle estate she saw Padma cowering in a corner and Goyle standing over her yelling. She cast a sonorous charm and yelled, it got his attention; Padma looked at her in relief. She canceled the charm and marched forward so she was standing an inch from him.

"Now Greg, what did I tell you about hurting my friends?"

"Not to do it." He cowered slightly.

"And seeing as how Padma is my friend and you hurt her, what did I tell you would happen?"

"Bad things." He whispered.

"Padma get your stuff and floo to Wood Farmhouse. Oliver and Marcus will be waiting for you; I will be there soon, okay?" Padma nodded and ran from the room. Hermione stared Goyle down until she returned with four shrunken suitcases. She flooed away and Hermione smirked.

"Now, let's think here Hermione." Goyle tried to reason, dumb boy.

"Oh I am; I'm thinking of how to hurt you." Her eyes narrowed and she pulled her wand she sent off ten spells, all relatively harmless and untraceable. "Good, now I will warn you again; don't test me or my friends. I might not be so lenient next time, understood?" Goyle, on the ground, silenced, in pain, and tied up, nodded meekly. Hermione smiled and flooed away.

She fell out the other side and sighed. After locking the floo she turned to see three questioning and amused faces.

"Did you fall out when you arrived at Goyle's because that might have ruined the effect?" Oliver laughed.

"Actually she didn't, surprisingly, she had Goyle cowering in fear at just the sight of her. Why is that if you don't mind me asking?"

"He tried to kill Harry, Ron, and I during the final battle but only killed Crabbe. I saved his life and as payment for his life debt anytime he tries to hurt my friends I get free rein to terrorize him as I see fit. It's a wonderful deal really, best I've ever made if I'm honest." Oliver chuckled and Marcus paled.

"It's been a long day, why don't I show you to your room Marcus? Padma, Hermione will show you to yours and explain a few things, like why you're here and such things." Oliver spoke standing and taking half of Marcus' stuff. Marcus was staying in the green room, while Padma stayed in the room next door, the Lavender room. Seeing as how the two hardly knew each other, Hermione and Oliver rightly assumed that they wouldn't feel comfortable sleeping together just yet.

"Here we are, Marcus is next door and the bathroom is across the hall. There is another one down the hall and Oliver and I are upstairs. Marcus just joined Puddlemere United, so all three of us will be leaving around 6:30 and returning at 6 or 7pm. I make both meals we are here for. Feel free to explore and everything; you and Marcus will need to find a new place but feel at home here until you find one, take your time. Now get some sleep any questions you have I will answer now or in the morning if it can wait."

"Why are your shoes neon pink? Also this may be a touchy subject but where's the scar from? Last question; is there a library anywhere near here?"

"We just left Fred and his new wife Kathy's wedding, all of the girls who were here the other night when Oliver and I explained our bond, the one I owled you about for books, decided to wear neon heels in spite of Molly as they just learned of her true colors. You should've seen her face when she saw Kathy's neon purple pumps, perfection. The scar is from Bellatrix when I was tortured in Malfoy Manor when we were on the run, I can explain another time, tomorrow maybe, Marcus will want to know as well. And down the hall make a left first door."

"Wow, okay then. I guess I should've guessed you had a library here; it just wouldn't be a pureblood property without one, or a place you would live. The shoes are inspired and thank you for trusting me with what little information you gave me so far about Bellatrix." She smiled.

"Goodnight Padma, if you need anything it's the door furthest from the stairs one level up; see you bright and early." Hermione said over her shoulder closing the door as she left. She met Oliver in their bedroom, changed, and flopped into bed beside him. They went to bed and got a nice long sleep; tomorrow would be busy.


	29. Quidditch Game 3-10

**If you recognize it, it's not mine.**

The following morning they woke earlier than normal so they could fill Marcus and Padma in on all the developments that everyone on the team knew. The bond, the torture, the family, the Woods, Molly, Ron, and Ginny were all explained. Padma looked disgusted at the thought of all that happening to one person. Marcus looked furious, Oliver smiled; he already acted like the rest of the team.

Padma left for work at the magical library in Hogwarts before the other three, but they weren't far behind. They arrived at the stadium to see all the team members and the coach waiting in front of the floo. When Marcus came out seconds before Hermione but after Oliver they all started talking at once. Coach looked calmly at Marcus and nodded, the team were raging though. Hermione rolled her eyes and cast a spell to silence them all.

"Okay now, Marcus is our new beater; I take it you were informed. He is a nice guy, doesn't like playing dirty but that was part of his previous contract. Him and his fiancé Padma, a friend of mine, are staying with Oliver and I. Treat him with respect." She lifted the spell and nobody spoke.

"Good, thank you Hermione, now we have a new player to train and only a few days to do so before game season really starts. We have three days to train him for what we've taken weeks to perfect. However now we have a lot more people to train him. Oliver have you explained our strategy or plays to him yet?"

"Yes, I gave him the play book and he started looking through it; we also discussed playing other roles on the team. He told me he can play any except seeker because he just doesn't have the build, but he knows how. My opinion would just be for us to go over the play we will use in the next game and once he's learned that teach him the others. He's not the only one who needs to learn, we all do. Plus Hermione has already changed the calculations so it fits his skills based on what he's told her."

"Good, we're further ahead than what I thought we'd be. Hermione why don't you take over practices for now, also explain the plan for all the upcoming games." Everyone looked to her and she nodded once, Oliver put her on a stool because she was too short to be seen by them all from the ground.

"Okay so we have a total of 10 more games before the qualifiers. To get into them we need to win the majority; we've already won two so that leaves four games we need to win. If we only win four we have no guarantee another team won't win five, so we need to win as many as possible so we can get in the qualifiers to get to the semi finals then the final. We won't use the same play twice in a row; however for the next two games we will use plays four and eight. They are very similar and will make other coach's think they can learn our play through combining the information when all it will do is: give us the advantage.

"Our next game is Saturday, today is Thursday, and we don't have much time. We will be playing the Heidelberg Harriers, and then Tuesday we are playing the Wigtown Wanderers. We really are lucky it's our home year, if it wasn't we would be all over the place, and we would be sent to Azkaban for not spending time with our matches."

"At least Oliver would be safe." Stephen spoke, the first team member since the silencing.

"Yeah whatever, now let's get to work. Ollie will tell you what to do and I will explain to coach and be going over strategies." She smiled. "Have fun and play nice kiddies."

"Says the 17 year old." Dan mumbled. She winked and hopped off the stool.

The next day went similarly to the first but instead they fine tuned all the players to each other now that a new player had entered the mix. When Saturday came they played wonderfully and won the game.

The Heidelberg Harriers went down with almost no fight. Same with the Wigtown Wanderers; their next practice they learned another new play and they used that in the next game. You could see many of Puddlemere's players smirking through the game against the Vratsa Vultures it put many of the opposing team members on edge. The game ended when Victor Krum the opposing seeker fell for Dan's Wronski Feint, Victor's signature move, and Dan caught the snitch. Victor came up to Hermione later and congratulated her on her play winning the game, laughing joyously the whole time.

Canada's Moose Jaw Meteorites fell very easily, making Puddlemere the first team having a conditional spot in the qualifiers for the world cup. The Quiberon Quafflepunchers put up a small fight but Puddlemere still won even if by a slightly less impressive lead. The Holyhead Harpies practically handed them the victory, it seemed like Puddlemere was the new feared team alongside the Montrose Magpies but not for being brutal but for being skillful and quick with their plays. The Caerphilly Catapults were just as cowardly as Peter Pettigrew and lost within an hour.

That brought them to game ten against the Montrose Magpies, known for being ruthlessly brutal. Hermione was a little nervous about this game, she didn't want to see any of the team get hurt; especially Oliver. It was halfway through the game when it all started going downhill.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THAT IS ANOTHER SAVE BY KEEPER OLIVER WOOD! IT LOOKS LIKE THE MAGPIES BEATERS ARE GETTING ANGRY, THAT'S NEVER GOOD. OH NO OLIVER WOOD HAS TAKEN A BLUDGER TO THE HEAD AND HAS BEEN KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS! THE GAME HAS BEEN PAUSED SO HE CAN BE MOVED AND THE RESERVE CAN TAKE OVER!" Hermione was internally freaking out and her head was pounding terribly.

"Put Carlos in as a beater he has a good arm and Marcus can go into the role of keeper. He has practice dodging bludgers and redirecting quaffles." Hermione said sitting down holding her head.

"The bond is getting pretty strong, how much pain are you in?" Mills asked.

"I'm fine, its Oliver I'm worried about this is only a fraction of what he has."

"Okay team, Carlos take Marcus' spot and Marcus you take Oliver's; also I want Stephen and Dan to switch but make it unnoticeable, that means play 13; got it?" Mills told them when they made it to the box, Marcus and Carlos zoomed off with the rest of the team following and Coach looked at Hermione again. "Hermione, why don't you go to the medical tent, assistant coaches are allowed in?" when she nodded he beckoned another reserve over to walk her there so she would fall over. She was still listening to the commentary as she held Oliver's hand and waited for him to wake up; at least her pain had disappeared.

"WHAT'S THIS? CARLOS MARTINEZ RESERVE KEEPER HAS TAKEN MARCUS FLINTS SPOT AS BEATER AND HE HAS TAKEN THE KEEPER POSITION! THIS IS UNHEARD OF! THE MAGPIES SEEM SATISFIED WITH THIS ARRANGEMENT PROBABLY BECAUSE THEY KNOW THEY'LL WIN NOW."

 _Twenty minutes of bad commentary later._

"AND THAT'S ANOTHER 10 POINTS FOR PUDDLEMERE, UNLESS THE MAGPPIES SCORE 40 POINTS BEFORE CATCHING THE SNITCH THEY LOSE THE GAME! AND DAN AJAX IS DIVING FOR THE SNITCH... BUT WAIT WHY IS STEPHEN JONES, CHASER, STANDING ON THE GROUND? STEPHEN IS HOLDING SOMETHING UP... WAIT IS THAT... IS THAT THE SNITCH?! IT IS! PUDDLEMERE HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! I JUST LOOKED AT THE ROSTER AND WHEN THEY CHANGED MARCUS FOR OLIVER AND CARLOS FOR MARCUS THEY SWAPPED DAN AND STEPHEN'S POSITIONS AS WELL! NOW THIS IS A NEW MOVE NEVER BEFORE SEEN, THIS IS CRAZY!"

"Play thirteen huh?" Hermione heard a voice; she looked down and saw Oliver staring at her.

"Well of course, what else would we do when we lose our star keeper and have the perfect opportunity?" she smirked, and then noticing the conditions frowned. "You need to never scare me like that again. We have two more games until the qualifiers and you're out for both, but if this had happened a week ago you would have been out for the last four games of the season before qualifiers."

"Crazy game season is over, that means our wedding is in three days; you excited?"

"Yes I am but you need to never get hurt again, I almost passed out from the pain and mine was only a small fraction of what you would've felt had you been awake." Oliver frowned and lifted his newly healed arm to brush some tears off her face.

"I'm okay now, how about we talk tomorrow? We still need to figure out what to do the night before our wedding, I don't want you to have a nightmare, so you're staying with me but the smaller details need to be talked about."

"Fine, go to sleep; Marcus is going to help me take you home before he goes home to see Padma." Marcus and Padma had moved out a week ago and into a nice town house in muggle London. Hermione missed the company at home when Oliver was busy, but she was happy they seemed to get on so well.

Her wedding to Oliver was in three days and that really scared her but it was also very exciting, after all she did love him.


	30. Wedding Three: Oliver & Hermione

**If you recognize it, it's not mine. Just FYI I don't like writing weddings (I have trouble writing them) so this is probably going to be the last or one of the last whole chapter weddings.**

Three days passed way too quickly for Hermione and now here she was sitting in the bathroom with Tonks standing outside trying to coax her out. It wasn't that Hermione didn't want to get married it was that she didn't want to expose her bond with Oliver. To her it was a sacred and special thing that only few knew about, but now people she didn't even like could know about it.

"Come on Hermione, it's not that bad being married, besides it's not like he can leave you at the alter. Then again he wouldn't want to either way, he loves you." Tonks yelled through the door; sympathy just wasn't her thing. Hermione opened the door and came out wearing her dress.

"It's not that I don't want to marry him, or think he won't marry me; it's the fact that everyone else will be there. I don't know what our bond is going to do. We all think it's good but what if it kills you?"

"Relax Hermione now let's get you down to the garden. We don't want you to be late for your own wedding do we?"

"No... Was I really in there that long?"

"Yes, let's go we have five minutes until you walk; Remus and Severus are probably going stir crazy." They were indeed going stir crazy.

Tonks went down the aisle in her own manner; tripping every few seconds. Hermione was looking at the area; it was beautiful, the girls had done a really good job. Oliver looked amazing in his all black tuxedo, Stephen looked handsome as well.

Remus and Severus each took one arm and led her into view; her knee length dress swaying with every step she took. She was smiling and looking at Oliver but the only thing she thought was 'don't trip'. Her shoes were red suede and very high. Oliver seemed to know her internal monologue as she could see him trying to contain his laughter.

When they reached the alter the men passed Hermione to Oliver and sat down. The ceremony passed in a blur to Hermione, she didn't really clue in until Oliver leaned in and kissed her.

Percy told them to cast their patronus' but when they did they got a shock. Instead of a cute cuddly otter and a hawk going down the aisle it was two phoenixes that combined together the second they hit the air. Everybody was far to amazed to move, it made it easier to walk down the aisle though.

The reception was filled with people congratulating them. Most everyone had forgotten about the patronus thing after the twins did their speeches. It was full of exposing Hermione for her true prankster ways. She vowed revenge. The weird part was that Mrs. Weasley hadn't come to talk to them and Hermione kept thinking she could here Oliver's thoughts.

When they got home that night after consummating their bond they were lying in bed together and talking. Oliver had just said something about phoenixes being the symbol of power, strength, and renewal.

 _I wonder why that's what our patronus' changed to? Why can't fate just tell us what it means and wants?_ Hermione thought, Oliver wasn't looking at her but answered.

"Maybe because of the war? You know fresh starts and all that."

 _Wait can you hear me?_ she thought as a test, at this point he was looking at her.

 _Yeah, can you hear me?_

 _Oh my gods! We can read each other's minds! I'm not going crazy; I could hear you during the reception! Wait, does that mean it was you insulting your parents in your head?_ Oliver blushed, looking guilty, but his slight smile was what threw it off.

 _We can read each other's thoughts. We could use this at work, or to really freak people out. I wonder if Severus were to read our minds if he would be able to hear the other's voice._

 _Maybe, we could always ask him next time we see him!_

 _Good plan._

 _We can use this during games... I can warn you about incoming bludgers or if I see the snitch._

 _This is brilliant._ They both smiled and stopped communicating. The rest of the night they didn't get much sleep but it wasn't like they had work in the morning.

The bond still had quite a few unknowns but they weren't as big anymore, for that they were grateful.


	31. Quidditch x2 & Wedding 4: Sirius & Mary

**If you recognize it, it's not mine. So there are only about 5 chapters left and I spent yesterday and this morning finishing them... I'm thinking of just posting them one per hour and finishing it all today. This way I can focus on another story I'm writing with Elementals and a Rabastan/ Hermione pairing and a few others. I hope you enjoy.**

Five days later, after three more quidditch practices and two days of break for their honeymoon, it was game day again. Today they were playing the Kenmare Kestrels; they had talked to coach and the team about using their new powers during a game and after hours of back and forth about the rules, they discovered they could use it as it didn't say they couldn't in the rule book. Hermione planned on using it the second Oliver was back to playing and would not feel any regret in saying they were going to kick the other team's asses. The game went great and Hermione ended up celebrating the night away with the team after they all went to the Farmhouse for the after party.

The next week they practiced, they made a few new plays, but most of it was fun little games that would fine tune their skills. Everyone had fun that week and the next.

It was finally Sirius and Mary's turn to get married. Hermione and Oliver woke that morning and got dressed for the day. She wore a simple navy blue dress that fell just passed her knees. It had capped sleeves and a scoop neckline. When Oliver saw her she could hear him thinking about how nice the dress would look on the floor at the moment. He was dressed in a simple all black suit, with a white shirt, and a red tie.

They arrived at the wedding and took their seats waiting for the ceremony to begin. Sirius stood at the front with Remus looking a little scared, when the doors opened and Anna stepped out and onto the aisle in her teal floor length bridesmaid dress with matching shoes.

Mary followed her moments later in a beautiful wedding dress. It was white and floor length. It wasn't tight but it showed her curves perfectly and she pulled it off wonderfully. It had a semi-sweetheart neckline and no sleeves, the bottom flared just a little bit and would drag on the floor if not for her heals. She was wearing sliver wedge heels that went rather well with the silver headband she wore. It was all very simple and put together to create something elaborate. The reception was fun and had no drama. It was a nice change from all the other weddings.

Two weeks later Hermione woke up and Oliver wasn't next to her, there was a note though. He had gone out to the quidditch pitch for a morning fly; Hermione just rolled her eyes and wondered how he survived in the off season. All of a sudden she had the overwhelming feeling that she was about to vomit.

Hermione ran to the bathroom and puked up her empty stomach. After puking she felt slightly better so she went down and made breakfast. Oliver came in just after she told him it was ready, he was already dressed and prepared to leave for work and she smiled at him. Today was their last season game before the qualifiers for the cup. She wasn't worried; the Ballycastle Bats weren't the best team if their stats told her anything.

"OKAY FOLKS, THIS WHOLE GAME SEASON OUR HOME TEAM, PUDDLEMERE UNITED, HAS PULLED MANY TRICKS BUT THIS MIGHT BE THE BEST ONE YET! AS THEY HAVE WON EVERY GAME THIS SEASON THEY DON'T NEED TO WIN THIS ONE, AND IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THEY'RE NOT EVEN TRYING. THEIR ROSTER IS A COMPLETE MESS. THE ONLY PLAYERS WHERE THEY SHOULD BE ARE DAN AJAX THEIR SEEKER AND WILLIAM AVERY THEIR CHASER! OLIVER WOOD, THE KEEPER, IS PLAYING AS A CHASER. TIM COLLONS AND STEPHEN JONES HAVE SWAPPED PLACES WITH THE TEAMS BEATERS AND THE TEAMS BEATER MARCUS FLINT IS GOING TO BE KEEPER AND JACK WHITE WILL BE A CHASER. IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THEY MIGHT LOSE THEIR FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON!"

Needless to say they won the game two hours later. Play 16 wouldn't fail them like that. While they waited to see who they would be playing in the qualifiers Hermione would be making an appointment for a pregnancy test, because she was pretty sure that's what was going on. She honestly hoped she was pregnant, and then the ministry couldn't control them any longer.


	32. A Baby, Wedding 5, & the Results

**If you Recognize it, it's not mine.**

It wasn't until the day before George and Sarafina's wedding that Hermione knew she was pregnant for sure. This was really not good; the baby part was great, but the timing could've been better. Really though: the day before a wedding, before the results for the quidditch world cup qualifiers, and the day before seeing Ronald, it was too much stress. She had to tell Oliver.

When she arrived home from her private appointment with Julia at St. Mungo's she went in search of Oliver. He was of course out on the pitch; she mind spoke to him and told him to come down so they could talk, and to meet her in the kitchen. She went inside and made herself a cup of tea, something she only drank when stressed.

Oliver went over and sat next to her, he knew something was up with her. He remembered she had a doctor's appointment and decided to try not to panic too much, she didn't seem to be.

"How was your appointment Mia?"

"Well, it went fine."

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, just a case of bad timing and it's a little scary I guess."

"What is it?"

"Ollie, I'm... I'm pregnant, four weeks. It's just bad timing with everything going on, it's all so stressful."

"Relax Mia, this is great news! It means that we won't need to deal with the ministry in eight months after this is all over. We love each other, you're pregnant, and we're happy. Nothing else matters that much; the quidditch qualifiers and cup aren't that important so don't stress over it so much. After the wedding and after George and Sarafina get back from their honeymoon we can hold a party and tell everyone, okay?"

"Yeah, but I think we should invite _everyone_ including the other Weasleys." She was smirking again and it made Oliver just want to drag her back to bed, so that's what he did.

The next day was the wedding and Hermione woke up late. The wedding started at three and Hermione and Oliver woke up around 1. Hermione made a mad dash to get ready while Oliver watched her, slowly getting ready himself. He couldn't believe Hermione was pregnant, it was a dream come true for him, and a baby was a big deal, a great one too.

They arrived right on time to be seated, receiving a death glare from the two female Weasleys for actually showing up. Hermione only smiled at them, feeling like she was walking on clouds, still riding on the news of her pregnancy; she'd finally gotten over the stressed stage and was in the excited and happy stage. Tonight they would get the schedule of who they would play for the cup and she was extraordinarily excited, knowing they had a very real chance.

She stood when Sarafina walked down the aisle in her gold bodice, floor length, ball gown style dress. It was beautiful, and the ceremony ended with the patronus' prancing down the aisle. The reception was very similar to Fred's and very upbeat. The wedding party had pranked several pieces of wedding cake to make people turn green. Hermione was laughing so hard that by the time she and Oliver left her cheeks hurt.

Twenty minutes after getting home an owl was tapping at their window with a letter. It was the cup's qualifier and finals bracket. Hermione showed Oliver then left for her study.

They were playing the Wimbourne Wasps first; if they won they would go onto the semi-finals. They had a 98% chance of playing the Tutshill Tornadoes for the semis according to past performance of the other teams. Then for the finals, if Hermione's math was correct, they would have a 94% chance of playing the Falmouth Falcons. All three teams had done well this year, not as well as Puddlemere, but still very good. It unnerved Hermione slightly, but she got over it.

She went to bed that night feeling slightly nervous for the coming games and the coming announcement, but that passed fairly quickly. Oliver and Hermione fell asleep that night tired but very happy and looking forward to the new family member that would be joining them shortly after the quidditch season was over.


	33. The Baby Announcement

**If you recognize it it's not mine.**

Hermione woke up early two days later due to some bad morning sickness. When Oliver woke up all he heard was Hermione puking up all the nothing in her stomach. He went into the bathroom and held her hair back for her; she smiled at him sheepishly in between rounds of puke.

 _Ollie can you go get me some tea and dry toast, Julia told me it might help?_ He just nodded and left the bathroom to make her whatever she wanted. Five minutes later when he returned it was to see Hermione lying on the ground beside the tub. He scooped her up and placed her back in bed whilst giving her the tea and toast.

"So, have you decided how you want to tell everyone?"

"I think I will go see Tonks and tell her, she will let it slip to all the others. Then for the team you can tell them, but I suggest telling Stephen first. I know it's a little cowardly but, hey I'm pregnant, you can't blame me." Oliver chuckled and nodded, he headed into the bathroom on the first floor to take a shower and get dressed. When he left and went to the kitchen, where he heard Hermione puttering around, he walked by the floo and noticed a letter. He went over and grabbed it; it was addressed to Hermione so he brought it with him. He handed her the letter and she looked puzzled for a second before she seemed to recognize the writing. She opened the letter quickly, read it, and gave it to Oliver.

"Are we going to go?" he asked, she nodded a little and pointed to the post script, Oliver groaned. "This is the day before Severus and Annabella's wedding isn't it?" Again she nodded and he frowned. An invitation for dinner at the Burrow as a one month countdown to Ron and Ginny's weddings; they had to go because everyone else was going and Hermione made a vow with her old roommates, if one had to go they all had to go.

Three days later the duo woke feeling like crap. Quidditch the past few days had been crazy due to the fact nobody wanted to play the Falmouth Falcons and general problems with everyone, on top of that Hermione was having trouble sleeping because of the fact they decided to hold a dinner soon to tell everyone of her pregnancy. As much as she wanted them to know, she didn't want it to get out into the media. Tomorrow was Severus and Annabella's wedding and there would alcohol and she was going to be questioned about not drinking it. Not to mention all of this was going to be done in front of Molly Weasley who had yet to apologize for her outlandish behavior.

Hermione dressed according to what the invitation said was dress code; she wore an indigo summer dress, with a thin brown belt, a black and white knit cover up, and brown wedges, her hair was charmed in loose waves and she wore light make-up. Oliver dressed in black jeans, a navy button up shirt, and converse. They left the house, reluctantly, at 6pm and went to the Burrow. They were one of the first there and they went to see the family and dodge the guests of honor.

"Hey guys, it's about time you got here! We've been subject to lectures about getting real jobs since we arrived but it stopped when you got here." Fred told them, Hermione almost felt bad but then remembered that he was the one who came earlier.

"It's your own fault for showing up before 10 to dinner." Hermione shot back

"True, but still. I think they're talking about you with the other two idiots." George spoke

"Probably." Severus drawled from behind her, she spun around, and slapped him for scaring her; he just smiled and shook his head.

"DINNER!" they all went over and sat with the new arrivals, getting situated at the farthest possible point from the two idiots; except Hermione who to everyone's surprise sat next to Goyle. She smiled at him and he visibly gulped. Assuming neither would talk the conversation turned to weddings and the disappointment the twins were to Molly and Arthur.

"Now before dessert I would like to make a toast." Molly told the table, standing up and levitating champagne to all the occupants of the table. Hermione panicked and hesitated when taking it, she figured she could just not drink it or turn it to water maybe. Molly finished her speech all about Ginny and Ron being the most successful of the family and such bullshit, they all reluctantly raised their glasses, and took a sip as Hermione simply put her glass on the table.

"Hermione, it is appropriate to take a drink when toasting someone. Did your parents forget to teach you that or were they too busy with work?" Ginny asked snobbishly like the little spoiled princess she was.

"No they taught me when I was a little kid and we went on a picnic during their day off, I simply don't like champagne." She lied about the last part; she loved champagne on special occasions. Hermione was silently daring her to ask again, then she could spill and ruin Ginny's moment; it may have been rude, but Ginny deserved it. Hermione got her wish though.

"Would you rather wine, scotch maybe?" Ginny prodded

"No, water or iced tea would probably be best."

"Fine here" Ginny summoned a glass of water and gave it to her with a small smirk. "Now drink so the toast is real and completed, wizarding superstition to not drink after a toast." Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly and took a small sip; she immediately spat the 'water' out and rose to her feet furious.

"That was vodka!" She accused

"Yeah and? Maybe some alcohol and fun will be good for you." Oliver was standing now too, he was furious as well.

"Hermione, I'm not taking her side but you've had vodka before, why it such a big deal now?" Remus asked from the other end of the table.

"Oh I can answer that!" Julia told him with a little smirk. She really liked Hermione and hated Ginny. "May I Hermione?"

"Go for it." She told her taking a sip of water that Oliver offered her and sitting back down.

"She can't have alcohol because it's bad for the baby." Julia said then stood and marched to the apparition point to disapparate. The table was stunned silent, Hermione and Oliver rose and walked away from the table to the floo; they were tired from the week they had and could answer all the questions tomorrow at the wedding.

The next day before the wedding they got a letter from Severus saying the wedding was canceled due to the officiate not being able to make it and that they just went to the ministry to sign the contract. On the bottom was a little post script telling them that the couple was in Transylvania and congratulations on the baby. Hermione thought that maybe Severus and Annabella just didn't want a wedding anymore and skipped town before people could comment. Hermione wished she could do that by the time she saw the front page of the paper and it was her and Oliver with the headline of **_'HERMIONE GRANGER, MASTER MANIPULATOR, PREGNANT!_** She sighed and got ready for a lazy day in.


	34. Qualifiers, Semi Finals, & Wedding 7

**If you recognize it, it's not mine.**

Hermione and Oliver did end up answering many questions from almost everyone. On top of the Q&A they had to deal with there was the rigorous training for the qualifiers where one loss would mean game over and all their hard work was for nothing. Oliver was finally allowed to play again and was very happy with the new developments. The good part about this time of the season was that the games were few and far between.

They'd made the schedule so some teams played from November all the way to September if you made it to the finals. The world cup this year was on September 13th and Hermione's due date was around the 18th. The semi-finals were May 25th and the qualifiers were an hour from now, January 29th.

Hermione and Oliver were at the stadium with the rest of the team getting ready for the game, doing warm-ups, and looking up the results from the other games. Today they were playing the Wimbourne Wasps, but if they won, like Hermione predicted, they needed a new play for the specific team. Hermione finally got the results and went to the coaches' box; coach Mills called all the team in and Hermione took over.

"Okay so the Tutshill Tornadoes won against the Quafflepunchers, so that's who we're playing. As for the other side of the bracket the semi final teams are the Falmouth Falcons and the Appleby Arrows. Falmouth is looking good this year and the Arrows only just made it into the qualifiers so I'm going to guess we're playing Falmouth when we win against the Tornadoes."

"Falmouth is one of the dirtiest teams there are!" Stephen exclaimed

"Yeah, and we will deal with them just like we dealt with the Magpies." Oliver told him

"So hit you with a bludger and win with play 13?" Marcus poked fun trying to diffuse the tension, it didn't work.

"Okay team go change into your game gear and get ready to win, the field is closed if the rapidly filling stairwell has to say anything." Mills told them, after they left he turned to Hermione. "So what play do you think today?"

"I think play 7 would be beneficial. With most of the Tornadoes being smaller players I think the aerodynamics we have in this play would work in our favor. I also think we should swap Marcus, Avery, and Oliver up."

"That sounds like a good plan." Coach replied. Twenty minutes later the team walked in and sat waiting for the play.

"Play seven boys. We also want Marcus as Keeper, Oliver as Chaser, and Avery as beater; Hermione why don't you explain our groupings?" Play seven worked around a series of groupings, the two most observant chasers with each other, one chaser with a beater, and the seeker with the fastest beater. They still used a signaling system but for this time it would be a reverse system, point in the opposite direction.

"Okay, so Dan with Avery because you two are similar in build and speed, also remember stick to the high ground and watch the signals opposite direction. Oliver I want you with Stephen because you two are friends it makes you more in tuned and I can also let you know when a bludgers coming. So that leaves Jack with Tim, Jack be sure to watch Tim's back and try not to leave his side. So because of this team's player's smaller build they will be a bit faster, watch out for that when passing, in other words short passes and drops. Marcus your role is pretty much self explanatory." Everybody chuckled slightly and the announcer called the teams into place detailing all three changes and onto the weird set up they had during the game and how it would never work out.

Three hours later when Puddlemere caught the snitch and the score was 980 to 260 in Puddlemere's favor he didn't have much to say about Hermione's choice in play. Oliver and Hermione went home after the mini team party at Stephen's house and celebrated in their own way. The next morning they didn't wake until late and had a lazy day together around the house.

February 1st came and it was time for Julia and Remus' small wedding at Hogwarts. Hermione and Oliver found it weird being there again but sucked it up for the purpose of Remus and Julia's wedding.

They took their places at the front of the lawn. Since neither of the two had many people to invite it was a very small wedding and they just had everybody stand. Julia marched down the aisle in her princess ball gown. She had her hair up in a French twist with a simple white headband, no veil and her white flats. Her dress was fairly elaborate and made Julia look beautiful.

After the wedding they went to Grimmauld and had a nice dinner as soon as Julia changed. The large group separated for the night and all went home feeling very joyous that the last of the weddings were over. Marcus and Padma had gone to the ministry for their wedding as they felt their engagement was enough excitement.

The following weeks went by in a pattern; practice all day everyday and dinner on Sundays with the team and Hermione's family, as well as all the spouses. May 25th finally came and Hermione woke up very nervous. Oliver felt it and hugged her to him for as long as he could before they had to get up. Today were the semi-finals and Hermione did not want to lose in case everyone blamed her.

"Nobody will blame you if we lose, it will all be on us players!" Oliver yelled to her from the shower, when Hermione's emotions were playing with her during this pregnancy Oliver could easily hear her thoughts. The Tutshill Tornadoes weren't the best team out there and Oliver was sure they would win either way, but Hermione didn't think like that.

They arrived at the pitch just on time with Oliver catching Hermione when she came through the floo. When it had become obvious she would never get a hang of the floo network they came up with a way so she wouldn't hurt the baby, have someone catch her. The team greeted their captain and assistant coach with a lot of talking at once.

"Whoa! Everyone shut up, one at a time please." Oliver yelled

"The Tornadoes came early for their pre-game warm up, we can't practice or finalize the play." Stephen told them

"There is also no way to get rid of them; I think the coach is just trying to get a sneak peak at the play we're using." Hermione stayed silent while all the others debated over what to do now, she had a plan forming and was determined to make it work.

"I will be right back, I need to check something." She told them before leaving the group in silence. She went to the guest's coaches' box and tapped the coach on the shoulder. "Hi there, I see your watching our team bickering over there. I have a question for you, it would solve a lot and we could finally get to work on our play; do you think you could answer it for me so my team could practice?"

"Yeah of course." The coach really was a gullible sap and Hermione felt mildly bad doing this to him, but he was spying. He really seemed to buy the whole naive thing on Hermione.

"Great what is the top speed of your seeker? We can't seem to agree on a number and my calculations won't work without it because it focus' on the beaters and seeker." Actually it was the opposite and Hermione did know their seekers top speed this was just for her misdirect. The coach gave her the seeker and beaters stats, which she knew were false, and as soon as she got back to the team he pulled his team off the pitch.

"What'd you say to him?" Coach Mills asked

"Just that to make my plays calculations work I needed to know the beaters and seekers top speeds because the play were using revolves around it."

"But our play revolves around the chasers." Jack White spoke confused

"Exactly but we do have a similar play to this that uses the same warm ups only uses the beaters. Now he will put all his focus on his beaters and seeker which leaves us open to his chasers. Simple misdirect and not against the rules because he didn't have to listen to me."

"You are a genius." Oliver told her while hugging her, the coach motioned towards the pitch and the team knew to work on the play they'd scrapped because it just wouldn't work in the end and in reality none of them would be playing their own positions. They didn't even find out who was playing and what they would be playing until game day because some days people had off days, there was no hard feelings between the reserves and the first string if one of them swapped out because they knew it was necessary.

"Okay boys, Hermione and I have come up with the roster for the game!" Coach yelled to them when they landed in the box five minutes before the announcer would call them out.

"Seeker will be Tim, Keeper will be Jack, and Chasers are: Dan, Simon, and Marcus, and finally our beaters will be Oliver and Stephen. Remember to watch for real signaling and not the fake ones that we will cover with. If you see the snitch signal me I'll tell Oliver and he tells Tim. After you signal me signal in a different direction. Try not to get hurt and have fun!" Hermione told them and went over to Oliver who pulled her aside for a quick kiss.

"Remember not to stress too much, it's bad for baby."

"We really need to think of a name for it."

"It might've been easier if you'd found out the gender."

"Tell you what, how about if it's a girl I name it and you give it a middle name, and if it's a boy you name it and I will give it a middle name?"

"Deal" he told her while giving her a kiss on the lips that she reciprocated eagerly. They pulled apart due to catcalls from the rest of the team.

"Wood, she's already pregnant ease up a little!" William Avery yelled to his captain, this cause even more laughter. They were all red faced when the announcer called their team to the pitch and they mounted their brooms.

Hermione gave Oliver one last kiss before he went onto the pitch and surprise, surprise the announcer criticized their roster make up. He defiantly ate his words when Tim caught the snitch ending the game with a score of 850 to 670 in the favor of Puddlemere. Sure it wasn't as big a difference in score as last time, but as they were in the semi finals it was probably a good thing.


	35. Quidditch World Cup and The Baby

**If you recognize it it's not mine.**

The next few months were hard for Hermione as she went through her pregnancy. She was now nine months pregnant and feeling just about ready to get rid of the baby inside her so she could meet it. She and Oliver had decided to wait until the baby was born to reveal their names for it to everyone, including each other.

Hermione woke on the day of the World Cup with a strange feeling, but chalked it down to just being nerves; at least that's what she told Oliver when he asked why her stomach felt funny. Deep down she knew she was probably having contractions but she didn't want to miss the game so she toughed it out, besides she might not even have the baby until tomorrow and she was determined to wait until her water broke to do anything.

"Mia, you ready to go?"

"Yup, let's go whip some ass!"

"I think your language has gotten worse since you got pregnant."

"Whatever Ollie, let's go before we're late." He chuckled and went through the floo, she followed, and he caught her. They walked to the coaches' box and Hermione sat down in her designated chair the team got her when it started hurting to stand. The team got onto the pitch and started their play specific drills while Mills and Hermione talked.

"The Falmouth Falcons are known for their brutality... I think we should use a more defensive play than the one we're using." He told her

"And I don't; this play is perfect for what we're up against. They like to go after chasers so we pair them with beaters, that's the obvious thing to do and what they're probably expecting."

"But your plays are so much more reliable than mine are."

"Yeah and I took your play and changed it slightly so the calculations worked, it will be perfect. Now stop worrying, that's my job." He chuckled and called the team in, the spectators were here; 24 of which Hermione knew. All of her family (Bill, and Percy included) and their spouses decided to come in support of Hermione's first game season ending and Harry and Luna tagged along, unfortunately Ron, Ginny, and their significant others came as well if their bragging last time she saw them told her anything.

The team came back ten minutes before the game started to get the roster for today.

"We want everyone in their respective positions today; if anyone gets hurt we have a back up roster. Good luck and don't get hur- mmmm- hurt, don't get hurt." For the last part Hermione felt slight pain in her stomach but her water wasn't broken so she was still safe. Oliver went over to her and pulled her aside from all the worried teammates.

"Mia, we should really go to the hospital, you're having contractions."

"I'm not going anywhere until my water is broken, I absolutely refuse and you can't make me." She told him stubbornly.

"I really hope our child doesn't get your stubborn nature."

"Don't worry if it does I will help it grow into it." She smirked and Oliver kissed his wife very lightly before going back over to the team.

"Don't worry guys they're just contractions which she's going to ignore until her water breaks... we should probably get ready to fly." Oliver told them and was met with wide eyes and confused looks, Oliver shrugged in response and shook his head. The team got the message and mounted their brooms just in time for the announcer to call them onto the pitch.

The announcer seemed to have gotten used to criticizing Puddlemere's roster because when they flew on the pitch he seem genuinely surprised they were all in their right spots and ready to go against one of the most feared teams. He really needed to stop talking because he just kept on criticizing even though they were all how they should be. As the game went on so did Hermione's contractions, they kept getting worse and closer together. Nearing the third hour of the game they'd already had three team members out and replaced and Hermione was getting really pissed when the fourth went down.

The team flew to the coaches' box and Hermione decided something. As the coach was just about to talk she interrupted them, obviously pissed about it all; needless to say the coach let her take over, and Oliver thought he saw a hint of pride in his eyes, along with something else.

"Okay boys time to change it up, a lot. Oliver is keeper, Marcus and Simon are beaters, Stephen, Morgan, and Josh are Chasers, and our new seeker is Carlos. If your questioning me this is the makeup because you are the most brutal and observant players. Crush them like ants and make sure you don't get caught fouling." Most of the team were shocked that she would say something or plan something this violent, but then they remembered the great Rita Skeeter who was now in Azkaban for being an unregistered animagus and who put her there; they realized it really wasn't out of character. It just went to show that if you crossed Hermione Granger you'd get burned, and hurting her, her friends or her family was definitely a way to get hurt.

The team flew onto the pitch and were completing the game when Carlos saw the snitch. He zoomed after it with the speed he gained from his years of experience. At the same time across the pitch Oliver had just stopped a quaffle when a lot happened at once. Carlos caught the snitch and they won the Quidditch World Cup, the stands were cheering very loudly, one of the Falcons beaters hit a bludger at Oliver, Stephen zoomed in front of him and took the hit sending him to the ground, the stands went quiet and Oliver went down to him.

He looked really bad and Oliver momentarily wondered if he was even alive. Hermione and Mills arrived seconds later on a broom, Oliver was caught between lecturing his wife in labour for getting on a broom and trying to flag down help for his best friend. Hermione sat on the ground next to Stephen and assessed the damage, she sent Mills up to the visitors guest box to get Julia, Sarafina, and Severus. They returned momentarily and she told them everything she knew, including that Stephen would probably never play again due to the severity of his injuries.

They fixed as much as they could on the pitch and got him stable to travel, that's when baby decided to make an entrance, and Hermione's water broke. They rushed to the hospital and so did all of Hermione's very extensive family. The day Hermione Granger had her first child would forever go down in history as you could hear her truly dirty mouth from the opposite side of the hospital all through her labor. When it was all over Oliver took the baby and brought it out to the waiting room filled with not only Hermione's family but Oliver's as well, all of whom looked a mix of joy and sadness.

"Hey everyone, I'd like you to meet me and Hermione's baby girl. I will give you a few minutes to exchange money on the bets I know you placed before telling you her name, and then you need to tell me how Stephen is." Money was indeed exchanged and everyone went quiet to hear the name. "Her name is Stephanie Fallon Wood. Named by Hermione for Stephen risking his life for me; now tell me how he is."

"He's awake and he's fine, just very disappointed he can't play anymore. He also told us to tell you he doesn't blame you for anything, and that he would do it again a million times over." Jack told him

"Thank you, umm, Tonks can you come with me for a minute?" she nodded and followed him into Hermione's room

"Tonks, would you be Stephanie's godmother? Oliver is going to choose godfather, but I want you to be the godmother."

"Of course I will be her godmother, on one condition... Oliver hand her over and go see Stephen and your other teammates while I sit with Hermione and the others come to visit her." Oliver smiled gratefully, handed over the baby, and left after giving Hermione a quick kiss. Everyone came to visit with a few exceptions, the coach being the only one that wasn't obvious. When Oliver came back he had the coach with him and both were smiling a little creepily towards Hermione.

"Mia, Coach would like to talk to you about something..."

"Hermione, I've been in the process of retiring for the past three years and was just waiting for someone capable of taking my place and I've found that person. Hermione you are officially promoted to the Head and only Coach of Puddlemere United when you sign this piece of paper." Hermione was stunned silent and when she finally gathered her thoughts, she took the page and the pen, wrote something, and signed her name before giving it back. "Really? Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, absolutely." Oliver looked at the contract and smiled; trust Hermione to do this for someone. Coach left and Oliver took Stephanie from Hermione and sat beside her on the bed.


	36. Epilogue

**If you recognize it, it's not mine.**

 ** _Eight Months Later_**

Puddlemere was in yet another year of constant wins and it was honestly expected with the new leaders of the team. Hermione had made it so that if Stephen wanted to remain with Puddlemere despite not being able to play he could remain and be a co-coach with her. Needless to say as soon as he could he signed the contract and the two of them truly were a force to be reckoned with. Puddlemere had try outs for the open chaser position and Hermione left the decision up to Stephen while she was on maternity leave.

After Hermione had Stephanie, who Stephen was the proud godfather of, others in her large family began to have kids as well. Tonks and Charlie were having a baby girl in just two months; but they weren't the only ones. It seemed everyone Hermione knew was pregnant. Almost all the quidditch players on the team who were affected by the law were on their ways to being dads. Stephen found out a week after the accident that Cho was pregnant and his baby girl was born two weeks ago.

Ginny and Goyle were not expecting as it seemed Goyle was infernal. Due to the fact that the marriages were inescapable Ginny decided to get herself a foreign lover. When she became pregnant she had an abortion. Seeing as both of those things are against the law at the moment she was sentenced to Azkaban. Goyle was a happy camper until he found out that meant he had to go live with the muggles.

Ron had a similar experience to his younger sister. He eventually got tired of Lavender's constant complaints that he didn't get enough money. Due to her constant spending they had to take out loans from some very shady people. When they couldn't pay them back the couple went missing and haven't been seen since.

Harry and Luna were living happily at Potter Estate. Luna still wrote for the Quibbler and Harry indulged her by becoming just a consultant in the aurors department and traveling with her. Sirius often teased that Harry was well and truly whipped; he stopped talking the second Mary walked into the room though.

In the following years Hermione and Oliver only had one more child; a beautiful baby boy that they named Carson Jason Wood. His godparents were Sirius and Severus, much to everyone's amusement. Severus and Annabella ended up with three little boys named: John, Hank, and Carl. Remus and Julia had one non werewolf infected daughter named Magdalena. Sirius and Mary had two kids named Caitlin and James. Fred and Kathy had twins that definitely took after Fred named Alice and Beatrice. George and Sarafina were much the same but with twin boys named Ralph and Cory. Charlie and Tonks only kid was named Hope, and Bill and Fleur's was Victoire. Percy and Penelope had a child name Kylie, and Harry and Luna had a daughter named Rayne. It made for some rather large dinner parties.

The family never lost the tradition of meeting for dinner as often as possible and now just went to the place with the biggest area that everyone would fit in. Mr and Mrs. Wood apologized for their atrocious behavior when they realized it meant they wouldn't get to see their grandchildren as often as they wanted to.

Molly lost everything, all her children stopped talking to her and Arthur eventually left her and went into hiding. She lived in the Burrow until she died a cold and miserable death all alone never once giving up her pride and asking forgiveness. Her sons almost didn't go to her funeral, but did for images sake.

Oliver and Hermione were in love and nobody ever could've imagined a happier couple if they tried, then again that's what true love gives you. Of course they fought, everyone did, but they always made up after wards. They were the couple all the kids wanted to be in hopes of their own happily ever after.

Nobody would ever understand this odd group, but that was okay. Nobody needed to understand or even like this group because they had each other and that was all they cared about. To them they were perfect.

When they looked back they would always refer to this year as the year of Quidditch and a multitude of marriages, and the happiest year of their lives.


	37. Disclaimer

Hi readers, I would like to acknowledge that this story has many similarities to Maisy2k10's Marriage Law of 1998. This was entirely accidental and they have messaged me giving me permission to use aspects of their story in mine. I did not actually read theirs until recently, at which point I didn't even remember writing this, but I will give her credit where the similarities are seen. I encourage you to read their story.


End file.
